2 

*— N 


Putnam  taking  his  mad  plunge  down  the  precipice  to  escape  the  British. 
Page  244.  Life  of  Israel  Putnam. 


THE  LIFE  OF 

ISRAEL  PUTNAM 

By  GEORGE  CANNING  HILL 


WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS 


"A  man  whose  generosity  was  singular,  whose  honesty 
was  proverbial." 


A.  L.  BURT  COMPANY,     j*     ^     j»     ^ 
jt      ^t      &      PUBLISHERS,  NEW  YORK 


Copyright,  1903, 
BY  A.  L.  BURT  COMPANY. 


URL 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PJL3K 

I.  EarlyLife 7 

II.  TheFrenchWar 27 

III.  Continuation  of  the  French  War 50 

IV.  Campaign  of  1758 67 

V.  End  of  the  French  War 93 

VI.  Opening  of  the  Revolution 106 

VH.  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill 133 

VIII.  Siege  of  Boston 158 

IX.  Operations  in  New  York 173 

X.  Retreat  of  the  American  Army 191 

XI.  In  the  Highlands 212 

XII.  Putnam  at  West  Point  and  Danbury 235 

XIII.  His  Last  Days 249 

XIV.  Conclusion..                 .  262 


PREFACE. 


THIS  biography  is  written  with  the  following  pur- 
poses in  mind: — To  furnish  from  the  pages  of  the 
world's  history  an  example  of  true  manhood,  lofty 
purpose,  and  persevering  effort,  such  as  may  be  safely 
held  up  either  for  the  admiration  or  emulation  of 
the  youth  of  the  present  day ; 

To  clear  away,  in  his  treatment  of  this  subject, 
whatever  mistiness  and  mustiness  may  have  accumu- 
lated with  time  about  them,  presenting  to  the  mental 
vision  fresh  and  living  pictures,  that  shall  seem  to  be 
clothed  with  naturalness,  and  energy,  and  vitality ; 

To  offer  no  less  instruction  to  the  minds,  than 
pleasure  to  the  imaginations  of  the  many  for  whom 
he  has  taken  it  in  hand  to  write ; 

And,  more  especially,  perhaps,  to  familiarize  the 
youth  of  our  day  with  some  of  those  striking  and 
manly  characters,  that  have  long  ago  made  their  mark, 
deep  and  lasting,  on  the  history  and  fortunes  of  the 
AMERICAN  CONTINENT. 

The  deeds  of  these  men,  it  is  true,  are  to  be  found 
abundantly  recorded  in  Histories;  but  they  lie  so 

iii 


IV  PREFACE. 

scattered  along  their  ten  thousand  pages,  and  are  so 
intermixed  with  the  voluminous  records  of  other  mat- 
ters, as  to  be  practically  out  of  the  reach  of  the 
younger  portion  of  readers,  and  so  of  the  very  ones 
for  whom  this  book  has  been  especially  undertaken. 
These  want  only  pictures  of  actual  life;  and  if,  the 
author  shall,  in  any  due  degree,  succeed  even  in 
sketching  interesting  outlines,  he  will  feel  that  he  is 
answering  the  very  purpose  that  has  long  lain  un- 
performed within  his  heart. 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  purpose  of  this  introductory  chapter  is  to 
set  forth  briefly  some  of  the  circumstances  of  the 
ordinary  life,  under  which  the  heroes  of  the  Revolu- 
tion grew  up  to  manhood.  In  order  to  secure  an  ac- 
curate and  vivid  picture  of  the  Revolutionary  war, 
or  of  the  men  of  that  period,  it  is  necessary  to  keep 
in  mind  the  conditions  of  life  that  then  prevailed. 
What  is  called  the  historical  imagination  is  by  no 
means  common,  even  among  the  educated;  and  that 
would  be  a  rare  child  who  could  keep  before  his  mind 
the  conditions  of  a  century  and  a  half  ago,  while 
reading  a  history  of  the  French  war.  A  mile  is  a 
mile,  both  in  the  eighteenth  and  in  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury. At  the  same  time  good  roads  shorten  the  dis- 
tance, and  a  trip  from  New  York  to  Boston,  or 
from  Pomfret  to  either  city,  over  roads  good 
enough  for  bicycling,  is  very  different  from  the  same 
trip  over  the  imperfect  roads  that  existed  in  Putnam's 
day.  On  the  other  hand,  at  a  time  when  almost  every 

V 


Vi  INTRODUCTION. 

one  was  accustomed  to  ride  long  distances  on  horse- 
back, that  method  of  travel  would  be  far  easier  than 
to  the  average  citizen  who  to-day  rarely  sits  astride  a 
horse.  The  reader  is  always  likely  to  forget,  for  the 
time  being,  such  facts  as  these,  though  he  knows  them 
well ;  and  thus  the  reading  of  the  history  may  convey 
a  false  impression. 

The  farm  life  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  cer- 
tainly crude  when  compared  with  that  of  to-day.  As 
for  cities,  there  were  then  no  cities  of  the  sort  prevail- 
ing in  the  twentieth  century.  Iron  and  steel  were 
costly,  and  the  latter  was  for  the  most  part  poor  in 
quality.  Steel  plows  were  unknown  for  nearly  a 
century  after  Putnam  began  to  work  his  farm. 
Shovels  were  home-made,  and  the  blade  was  usually 
of  wood.  Houses  were  almost  entirely  home-made. 
The  owner,  sometimes  with  and  sometimes  without 
the  help  of  his  hired  men,  would  hew  out  suitable 
timbers  for  the  frames  and  join  them ;  then  the  entire 
neighborhood  would  be  invited  to  a  "  raising,"  at 
which  the  timbers  would  be  hoisted  and  firmly  se- 
cured in  place,  and  the  day  would  close  with  eating 
and  drinking,  especially  the  latter,  and  with  general 
jollity.  The  frame  of  the  building  was  thus  in  posi- 
tion, and  the  owner  could  cover  it  with  boards  at  leis- 
ure. In  many  a  home  the  clothing  was  made  from 
start  to  finish  by  the  farmer  and  his  wife.  The  sheep 


INTRODUCTION.  vii 

were  raised  and  sheared,  and  the  wool  was  carded  by 
the  husband.  Then  the  wife  spun,  and  wove  the 
wool  into  cloth,  took  the  measurements,  and  made  the 
clothing,  to  the  last  stitch.  The  charitable  mind  will 
not  inquire  too  closely  into  the  finish  of  the  goods,  or 
the  style  of  the  design,  or  the  accuracy  of  the  fit. 
It  is  enough  to  know  that  the  work  was  all  done  in 
the  family. 

The  farmer  dug  his  own  well,  made  his  own  buck- 
ets, tended  and  doctored  his  domestic  animals,  was 
amateur  butcher,  lived  mainly  from  what  he  raised. 
Horses  were  shod,  and  that  at  considerable  expense, 
by  the  blacksmith ;  but  the  wagons  were  largely  made 
and  kept  in  repair  at  home.  The  excess  of  farm  pro- 
duce was  either  bartered  or  sold  outright,  usually  the 
former.  Thus  every  family  was  in  large  measure 
complete  in  itself  and  independent  of  all  the  world 
outside.  The  difficulties  of  transportation  acted  as 
a  high  tariff  and  effectually  protected  and  encouraged 
infant  industries.  In  all  this  life,  the  demands  on  the 
wife  were  not  less  various  than  those  on  the  husband. 
The  mother  was  baker,  cook,  tallow  chandler,  weaver, 
tailor,  nurse,  teacher,  and  much  else  besides;  and  in 
addition  to  all  the  duties  that  by  tradition  are  sup- 
posed to  belong  to  womankind,  she  not  infrequently 
lent  a  hand  in  the  garden  and  field,  and  in  the  care 
of  the  domestic  animals.  The  "  men  folks,"  too,  ac- 


INTRODUCTION. 

quired  some  versatility ;  for,  in  case  of  illness  or  other 
disability,  they  could  not  send  off  and  on  short 
notice  obtain  trained  nurse  or  cook,  but  were  required 
to  do  the  pressing  duties  for  themselves,  or  go  with- 
out 

These  facts  brought  many  advantages  and  many 
disadvantages.  The  home-made  tools  and  clothing 
were  by  no  means  equal  in  quality  to  those  which  to- 
day may  be  purchased  at  a  low  cost.  Nor  were  the 
products  of  the  farm  such  as  would  now  be  exhibited 
at  agricultural  fairs.  The  pork  was  largely  of  the 
"  razor-back  "  variety.  Horses  were  not  thorough- 
bred. The  other  animals  and  the  poultry  were,  to 
say  the  best,  of  ordinary  excellence.  The  apples, 
plums,  pears,  and  grapes,  were  sour  and  hardly  worth 
the  picking.  Tomatoes  were  then  unknown.  One 
might  thus  go  through  the  entire  list  of  the  farmer's 
possessions  and  products  and  find  that  at  every  point 
they  would  make  a  sorry  comparison  with  what  we 
see  to-day,  and  one  wonders  how  they  endured  such 
disadvantages. 

Let  it  be  remembered  also  that  the  crude  conditions 
of  the  farm  life  were  no  more  marked  than  those  in 
other  departments  of  activity.  There  were  no  large 
factories  to  supply  products  of  industry  in  fabulous 
quantities:  no  watch  factories,  no  sewing  machines, 
no  great  mills.  In  commerce  it  was  the  same. 


INTRODUCTION.  ix 

Franklin,  who  sold  his  books  and  papers,  first  wrote 
them,  then  set  the  type,  then  printed  them  by  a  hand 
press.  To  go  back  a  century  and  a  half  into  that 
form  of  culture,  would  be  like  stepping  into  another 
world. 

But  there  is  another  side  to  that  sort  of  life,  and 
that  concerns  its  educational  influence,  its  enormous 
value  in  developing  men.  There  were  few  books, 
magazines,  and  newspapers ;  but  the  daily  duties  gave 
food  for  thought.  To-day  a  man  is  supposed  to  be 
master  of  one  trade,  a  machinest  will  spend  his  life 
at  one  kind  of  work.  The  work  is  surely  well  done, 
but  the  mind  of  the  worker  is  not  broadened.  When 
the  worker  had  to  do  everything  by  his  own  hand  and 
brain,  the  work  was  crude  but  the  man  was  developed 
both  in  intelligence  and  character.  There  was 
slight  knowledge  of  literature,  the  "  three  great  Es  " 
constituted  almost  a  literary  education;  but  the 
thrift,  the  self-control  and  reliance,  the  industry,  and 
all  the  qualities  that  go  to  make  a  true  and  sterling 
manhood,  were  great. 

Those  who  to-day  go  from  the  centers  of  cul- 
ture to  the  frontier  may  see,  to  a  certain  extent,  how 
the  demands  of  the  circumstances  of  the  latter  tend  to 
develop  a  high  grade  of  intelligence  and  the  essentials 
of  a  manly  character.  The  speech  may  be  a  dialect, 
the  dress  uncouth,  and  the  manners  the  reverse  of 


x  INTRODUCTION. 

winsome ;  but  these  frontiersmen  frequently  manifest 
a  high  degree  of  general  intelligence.  Be  it  remem- 
bered that  every  state  in  the  Union  was  builded  by 
men  who  were  frontiersmen  in  their  day.  ~Not  only 
the  original  thirteen  are  a  credit  to  their  builders, 
but  all  the  rest,  from  the  Ohio  river  to  the  Pacific 
ocean,  are  an  undeniable  evidence  of  the  practical 
wisdom  of  men  who,  far  from  the  centers  of 
wealth,  commerce,  culture,  have  received  that  edu- 
cation which  comes  from  the  practical  necessities 
of  poverty  upon  the  frontier. 

The  armies,  or  the  soldiers,  we  see  to-day  are  well 
clothed,  well  fed,  well  armed,  and  well  disciplined. 
These  facts  are  so  intimately  connected  with  our  ideas 
of  what  military  life  is,  that  it  is  hard  to  imagine 
an  army  from  which  all  these  are  conspicuously  ab- 
sent. The  revolutionary  soldiers  had  bravery,  intel- 
ligence, and  independence — in  fact  the  men  were 
often  far  too  independent  for  the  general  good ! — but 
in  appearance  they  were  a  motley  crowd.  In  the 
main  "  the  embattled  farmers  "  were  clothed  after 
the  manner  of  farmers,  and  a  battalion  contained 
within  itself  all  the  varieties  suggested  by  the  famous 
coat  of  many  colors,  but  with  none  of  its  beauties. 
Where  there  were  uniforms,  there  were  not  enough 
to  go  around,  and  so  that  did  not  materially  better 
the  -situation.  The  guns,  too,  were  such  as  the  men 


INTRODUCTION.  x| 

previously  owned  or  could  get.  There  were  compan- 
ies of  militia,  but  their  annual  drill  on  the  village 
green  did  not  furnish  training  enough  to  be  of  mate- 
rial value.  We  may  assume  that  in  that  war,  as  in  al- 
most every  other,  the  majority  of  the  private  soldiers 
were  either  boys  or  very  young  men.  The  young  are 
peculiarly  susceptible  to  the  show  of  military 
pomp,  and  of  such  pomp  the  patriot  army  had  noth- 
ing; there  was  nothing  to  appeal  to  this  spectacular 
sense,  which  counts  for  so  much  in  war. 

To  be  more  specific,  we  may  enumerate  some  of 
the  most  prominent  of  the  difficulties  that  met  the 
generals  and  other  commanders  of  that  day.  The 
first  was  found  in  the  enforcement  of  discipline.  The 
perfect  soldier  is  and  should  be,  up  to  a  certain  point, 
a  machine.  "  Theirs  not  to  make  a  reply,  theirs  not 
to  reason  why."  The  one  duty  is  obedience.  This 
sort  of  soldier  is  precisely  what  the  average  American 
was  not.  The  whole  training  of  the  people  was  in  the 
direction  of  individualism,  and  personal  freedom, 
a>nd  the  patriotic  youth  was  always  asking  why.  For 
this  they  or  their  fathers  had  left  the  mother  country 
to  make  homes  in  the  howling  wilderness.  This  was 
further  enforced  by  their  theology,  their  civic  train- 
ing, and  their  personal  habits.  It  was  therefore  im- 
possible for  the  officers  to  issue  peremptory  orders  ac- 
cording to  military  methods.  If  the  orders  did  not 


xii  INTRODUCTION. 

meet  witfi  the  approval  of  the  privates,  they  were  ig- 
nored. These  same  privates  had  earnest  opinions  on 
all  questions  that  came  up,  and  when  matters  did  not 
meet  their  approval  they  would  simply  leave  the  army 
and  go  back  to  the  farm  or  shop:  in  technical  lan- 
guage, they  deserted.  There  was  no  method  of  en- 
forcing orders,  such  as  is  possessed  by  officers  of  a  reg- 
ular army,  and  the  officers  were  sorely  handicapped 
by  reason  of  this  state  of  affairs. 

Another  difficulty  of  the  officers  was  found  in  the 
chronic  lack  of  money.  When  men  are  not  promptly 
paid  either  in  factory,  army,  or  any  other  place,  there 
is  sure  to  be  violent  outbreaks  of  discontent.  These 
soldiers  were  suffering,  they  had  been  promised  the 
money  and  they  needed  it, — they  needed  it  both  for 
themselves  and  for  their  families.  They  thought  of 
the  legislators  as  keeping  the  money  for  themselves, 
and  in  Connecticut  they  actually  started  for  the  cap- 
ital to  raid  the  legislature.  The  patience  and  per- 
sonal influence  of  the  commanders  was  put  to  a  severe 
test  to  keep  the  men  in  comparative  order.  Then 
there  was  constant  need  of  supplies.  Some  clothing 
must  be  bought,  some  food  must  be  paid  for.  Powder 
was  never  abundant  in  the  patriot  army,  and  at  one 
time  it  ran  so  nearly  out  that,  had  all  the  army  been 
engaged  at  once,  there  was  not  enough  left  for  a  day's 
fighting.  Making  bricks  without  straw  is  a  simple 


INTRODUCTION. 

proposition  when  compared  with  carrying  on  a  long 
and  important  war  without  money. 

A  third  difficulty  of  the  times  was  the  intermix- 
ture of  Tories  and  spies  with  the  patriots.  The  coun- 
try at  large  was  patriotic,  but  there  were  Tories 
enough  to  make  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  Generally 
speaking,  the  men  of  wealth,  the  successful  men  of 
business,  and  consequently  the  men  of  influence,  were 
on  the  Tory  side.  These  claimed,  and  very  plausibly, 
to  have  particular  regard  for  the  laws.  They  were 
quick  to  note  any  infringement  of  their  rights  and 
eager  to  demand  reparation.  That  they  did  not 
equally  recognize  or  respect  the  rights  of  others  did 
not  disturb  them.  Consistency  is  too  rare  a  jewel  to 
be  of  service  in  time  of  war.  There  were  then,  as 
there  always  is,  a  large  number  of  unprincipled  men 
who  are  willing  to  serve  on  one  side  or  the  other  as 
fancy  or  the  prospect  of  gain  may  indicate.  The  con- 
ditions were  then  favorable  for  the  vocation  of  the 
spy,  and  the  army  was  never  free  from  his  interfer- 
ence. Cooper's  historical  novel  The  Spy,  especially 
the  closing  portion,  sets  forth  in  picturesque  manner 
the  conditions  which  were  most  depressing.  In  the 
patriot  army  there  were  large  numbers  of  officers  of 
high  station,  like  Benedict  Arnold,  who  were  ready 
to  sell  out  at  a  convenient  time. 

There  is  a  fact  which  is  so  slight  as  to  escape  the 


xiv  INTRODUCTION. 

attention  of  most  readers,  but  which  is  of  sufficient 
importance  to  note  here.  It  is  that  the  patriots  had 
no  flag.  Even  after  the  stars  and  stripes  were  devised 
by  Mrs.  Betsey  Ross,  which  was  not  until  the  year 
1777,  it  had  none  of  the  associations  to  the  men  of 
that  day  which  it  has  to  us  who  have  learned  to  con- 
nect it  in  thought  with  all  that  is  noble  and  glorious 
in  patriotic  history.  We  became  familiar  with  the 
beautiful  emblem  in  our  infancy,  we  early  learned  to 
praise  it  in  song  and  poem,  we  have  read  thrilling 
stories  of  the  men  who  have  fought,  bled,  and  died 
for  it,  and  the  very  sight  of  it,  floating  over  school- 
house,  fort,  or  vessel,  rouses  a  noble  and  patriotic 
feeling  in  our  souls.  This  feeling  is  consonant  with 
the  profound  facts  and  verities  of  human  nature.  It 
is  found  in  all  countries,  it  touches  all  ranks  and 
classes  of  people,  it  is  an  inspiration  to  all  military 
glory.  The  citizen  resents  an  insult  to  the  flag,  the 
orator  praises  the  flag,  the  soldier  follows  the  flag 
"  into  the  jaws  of  death,  into  the  mouth  of  hell,"  and 
he  is  content  to  have  his  lifeless  body  buried  under 
the  flag.  But  the  patriots  had  no  flag.  Their  early 
associations  were  with  the  British  emblem,  and 
against  it  they  were  now  armed  and  arrayed.  They 
lacked  a  most  important  means  of  help. 

The  element  of  personal  influence  is  nearly  the 
same  in  all  ages,  and  this  was  an  important  fact  in 


INTRODUCTION.  xv 

the  stirring  events  of  the  pre-revolutionary  period. 
Putnam's  thrift,  good  sense,  and  success  as  a  pioneer 
farmer  in  Connecticut,  gave  him  an  unusual  influence 
with  his  neighbors.  His  good  fellowship  won  him 
many  friends.  The  population  of  his  community  was 
scant,  but  he  was  beyond  question  a  leader  of  the 
people.  He  was  nearly  forty  years  old  when  he  took 
part  in  the  French-Indian  war,  and  his  daring  at 
that  time  greatly  increased  the  honor  in  which  he  was 
held.  During  the  period  of  popular  discontent  just 
previous  to  the  outbreak  of  the  revolution,  he  was  one 
of  the  most  conspicuous  men  in  his  colony.  He  was 
approaching  sixty  years  of  age  W7hen  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill  was  fought,  and  his  conduct  there  shows 
that  he  was  as  fiery  and  impetuous  as  when  in  his 
'teens.  Confidence  begets  confidence,  and  enthusiasm 
kindles  enthusiasm.  Though  the  rank  and  file  did 
not  always  follow  their  leader,  they  conducted  them- 
selves far  better  than  they  would  or  could  have  done 
in  his  absence ;  and  after  that  battle  he  was  a  greater 
power  than  ever. 

The  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  was  fought  June  17, 
1775.  At  that  date  Putnam  was  not  in  commission. 
The  American  soldiers  were  volunteers  in  a  sense 
far  more  complete  than  the  technical  meaning  of  the 
word  conveys.  It  was  not  until  July  2,  or  two  full 
weeks  after  the  battle,  that  Washington  reached  Cam- 


INTRODUCTION. 

bridge,  bringing  with  him  commissions  for  four 
Major-Generals  who  had  been  appointed  by  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  on  June  17  and  19.  The  names, 
and  the  order  of  precedence,  of  these  four,  were 
as  follows:  Artemas  Ward,  Charles  Lee,  Philip 
Schuyler,  and  Israel  Putnam.  Washington,  who  had 
these  commissions  in  his  possession,  was  invested 
with  a  certain  discretionary  power  as  to  delivering 
them.  Upon  his  arrival  at  Cambridge  he  found  so 
much  of  discontent  and  mutual  criticisms  among  the 
patriots  that  he  deemed  it  wise  to  withhold,  for  a 
time,  all  the  commissions  except  Putnam's.  His  was 
the  only  one  that  was  delivered  at  once.  The  others 
received  their  commissions  shortly  afterwards.  One 
by  one  they  dropped  out  of  the  war  until  after  the 
battle  of  Monmouth  in  1778,  when  Lee,  being  tried 
by  court-martial  for  disobedience  of  orders,  was  sus- 
pended for  a  year.  This  left  Putnam  the  ranking 
Major-General  of  the  army.  Even  he  was  not  in 
active  service  at  the  close  of  the  war,  having  been  dis- 
abled by  paralysis. 


GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 


CHAPTEK  I. 

EAELY  LIFE. 

'ALMOST  every  popular  favorite  has  his  nickname. 
They  called  General  Jackson  "Old  Hickory ;  "  Gen- 
eral Taylor  was  known  everywhere  through  the  camp 
by  the  name  of  "  Old  Zack ;  "  *  and,  not  to  interpose 
too  many  instances  between  our  own  times  and  his, 
General  Israel  Putnam,  of  Revolutionary  memory, 
was  better  known  by  the  whole  army  under  the  famil- 

*  The  civil  war  of  1861-5  developed  many  such  nick- 
names. General  Grant  was  "Unconditional  Surrender;" 
General  Thomas,  "the  Rock  of  Chickamauga;  "  General 
Logan,  "the  War  Eagle;"  General  Hooker,  "fighting  Joe 
Hooker;  "  General  Sheridan  was  always  called  by  his  first 
name,  Phil. 

Lincoln  was  called  "old  Abe;"  Elaine,  "the  Plumed 
Knight;  "  Thurman,  "the  old  Roman;  "  Reed,  "the  Czar." 
It  is  a  trait  of  the  American  people,  more  than  of  other 
peoples,  to  modify  the  names  of  its  successful  men.  When 
they  cannot  find  a  taking  epithet,  they  use  the  first  name, 
or  an  abbreviation  of  it,  such  as  A6e  and  Phil, 

7 


8  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

iar  title  of  "  Old  Put "  than  either  by  the  military 
rank  he  had  honestly  earned,  or  the  simple  Scriptural 
name  his  father  and  mother  gave  him. 

Israel  Putnam  was  a  marked  character  in  days 
"when  it  would  appear  as  if  almost  every  man  stood 
out  as  an  exemplar.  He  lived  in  stirring  times,  and 
was  not  a  whit  behind  the  rest  in  helping  to  create 
the  stir.  Few  among  the  long  roll  of  the  patriots 
of  the  Revolution,  addressed  themselves  to  the  great 
questions,  as  they  came  up,  with  greater  zeal  than  he, 
or  with  a  more  stout  and  rugged  determination  to 
secure  peace  on  the  basis  of  simple  justice.  It  must 
be  allowed,  too,  that  he  had  a  strong  love  for  adven- 
ture in  his  nature,  and  was  as  ready  at  any  time  for 
a  warlike  foray,  or  a  dangerous  expedition  into  a 
wilderness  swarming  with  Indians,  as  he  was  for  a 
frolic  at  harvest-time,  or  an  exciting  wolf-hunt  with 
the  young  farmers  in  midwinter.  The  life  of  Put- 
nam was  a  romance  almost  from  the  beginning;  yet 
no  one  was  apparently  better  contented  than  he  amid 
the  peaceful  scenes  of  the  country  life  of  those  days, 
or  enjoyed  himself  more  in  the  quiet  atmosphere  of 
his  farm,  his  home,  and  his  friends.  In  this  respect 
he  might  be  said,  like  some  other  men,  to  have  had 
two  natures:  one  continually  exciting  him  to  action 
and  deeds  of  boldness  and  bravery,  and  the  other  tem- 
pering him  down  to  the  tone  of  those  homely,  every- 


EARLY  LIFE.  9 

•day  joys  that,  after  all,  are  the  richest  resources  a 
man's  heart  ever  knows. 

Israel  Putnam  was  born  in  Salem,  Mass.,  on  the 
7th  day  of  January,  1718.  His  mother  *  had  twelve 
children,  of  whom  he  was  the  eleventh  in  order.  The 
house  still  stands  in  which  he  was  born,  and  is  ex- 
actly half-way,  on  the  turnpike,  between  ISTewbury- 
port  and  Boston.  The  family  emigrated  from  one  of 
the  southern  counties  of  England,  in  the  year  1634, 
and  settled  in  that  part  of  Salem,  known  as  Danvers. 
The  original  family  name  was  spelled  Puttenham, 
instead  of  Putnam.  Israel  \vas  the  great-grandson  of 
the  one  who  first  planted  the  name  in  that  part  of  the 
country,  Mr.  John  Putnam ;  his  father's  Christian 
name  being  Joseph,  his  grandfather's  Thomas,  and 
his  great-grandfather's  John  as  just  mentioned. 

Israel  was  a  courageous  boy,  and  many  daring  acts 
of  his  youth  are  preserved  by  tradition  among  the 
different  branches  of  the  old  family  stock.  He  loved 
adventure  and  excitement,  and  was  apt  to  be  foremost 
in  those  bold  and  reckless  undertakings  for  which 

*  Putnam's  mother's  mother  was  Elizabeth  Hathorne. 
Her  father,  William  Hathorne,  came  to  this  country  in 
1630,  and  after  a  short  residence  at  Dorchester,  now  a  part 
of  Boston,  settled  permanently  in  Salem.  A  lineal  descend- 
ant of  this  puritan,  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  (note  the  change 
in  the  spelling  of  the  name)  described  this  William  as  the 
"  srrave,  bearded,  sable-cloaked,  and  steeple-crowned  progen- 
itor, who  came  so  early,  with  his  bible  and  his  sword." 


10  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

boys  are  generally  so  ready.  His  early  education 
was  limited,  as  one  must  readily  infer  when  one  re- 
flects that  schools  of  any  kind  were  not  a  common 
privilege  in  those  days.  The  population  was  very 
much  scattered,  instead  of  being  gathered  into  towns 
and  villages  as  now,  and  good  schools  would  have  been 
quite  difficult  to  support.  Besides,  as  he  was  brought 
up,  the  most  of  his  time  was  required  on  the  farm, 
helping  about  the  regular  work  in  such  ways  as  boys 
of  his  age  are  taught  and  expected  to  do.  Had  his 
education  been  different  when  he  was  young,  there  is 
no  doubt  that  he  would  have  wrought  with  a  still 
wider  influence  on  the  minds  of  the  men  of  the  Revo- 
lution. But  it  was  sufficient  proof  of  his  inherent 
strength  and  greatness,  that  he  rose,  as  he  did,  su- 
perior to  all  the  obstacles  that  he  found  in  his  path, 
and  wrote  his  own  name  legibly  on  the  page  of  his 
country's  history.  It  is  not  every  man,  even  with 
the  aid  of  many  more  advantages  than  he  enjoyed, 
who  succeeds  in  doing  what  he  did  for  his  country- 
men and  himself. 

We  said  that  he  was  courageous,  and  sometimes 
reckless,  when  a  boy,  but  his  disposition  was  not 
quarrelsome.  When  he  was  assailed,  he  stood  his 
ground  without  flinching;  but  he  was  not  in  the  habit 
of  picking  quarrels  with  any  one.  When  he  went 
up  to  Boston,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  one  of  the 


EARLY  LIFE.  11 

young  town-fellows,  a  great  deal  older  and  bigger 
than  himself,*  saw  him  coming  along  the  street  in 
his  dress  of  plain  homespun,  staring  at  the  signs  and 
the  windows,  and  taken  up,  as  almost  every  true  rus- 
tic is,  at  least  once,  with  what  he  saw  and  heard 
around  him ;  and,  thinking  to  have  some  fun  out  of 
the  country  fellow,  he  taunted  him  with  his  dress,  his 
gait,  his  manners,  and  his  general  appearance. 
Young  Putnam  bore  it  as  well  and  as  long  as  he 
could.  He  looked  around  and  saw  that  a  crowd  had 
collected,  who  seemed  to  be  enjoying  themselves  at 
his  expense.  His  blood  rose  at  length,  and  he  de- 
termined to  submit  no  longer.  Suddenly  he  turned 
upon  the  ill-mannered  city  youth,  and  gave  him  such 
a  thorough  flogging  on  the  spot  as  not  only  silenced 
his  impudence,  but  likewise  drew  forth  the  instant 
admiration  of  the  crowd,  who  were,  but  a  moment  be- 
fore, so  willing  to  enjoy  his  own  humiliation.  This 
single  little  affair  was  wholly  characteristic  of  the 
man,  as  he  afterwards  showed  himself  on  a  wider 
theatre. 

Very  few  incidents  of  a  well-defined  and  authentic 
nature,  have  come  down  to  us  in  illustration  of  the 
boyhood  of  Putnam;  indeed,  when  we  consider  that 
he  was  nothing  more  than  a  plain  farmer's  boy,  of 
whom  no  one  ever  thought,  except  as  other  boys  were 

*  Headley  says  this  boy  was  twice  his  size  and  age. 


12  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

commonly  thought  of,  whose  advantages  were  few, 
and  whose  education  was  limited,  who  had  no  other 
aim  in  life  than  simply  to  do  his  work  well  and  make 
as  respectable  a  man  as  his  father  before  him, — it 
is  evident  that  few  facts  could  have  accumulated  at 
the  most,  going  to  show  his  native  superiority  to 
anybody  else  of  his  own  age  and  condition.  It  was 
after  he  made  himself  conspicuous  in  the  eyes  of  his 
countrymen,  that  his  relatives  began  to  collect  such 
scanty  materials  relating  to  his  youth  as  family  tra- 
dition chanced  to  have  handed  down;  not  happening 
to  have  been  born  great,  or  renowned,  of  course  no 
record  was  kept  of  those  early  years  before  he 
achieved  for  himself  what  he  afterwards  so  honorably 
did  achieve.* 

*  Among  the  stories  of  the  boyhood  and  youth  of  Israel 
Putnam,  some  are  worth  preserving.  At  the  early  age 
when  boys  delight  in  hunting  birds'  nests,  he  was  so  un- 
fortunate as  to  fall  from  a  tree  by  the  breaking  of  a  limb; 
before  he  reached  the  ground  his  trousers  caught  on  a 
projecting  branch,  and  he  hung,  head  downward,  in  a  posi- 
tion that  was  equally  uncomfortable  and  unsafe.  He  called 
on  his  companions  to  release  him  by  shooting  the  branch 
so  as  to  cut  it  in  two.  The  boys  demurred,  fearing  they 
would  shoot  him,  until  he  assured  them  that  he  would 
take  all  the  risk.  This  assurance  steadied  their  nerves, 
and  the  shot  carried  true;  the  branch  was  severed  and  the 
boy  was  released. 

Later,  he  tamed  a  fractious  bull  by  a  unique  treatment. 
Arming  himself  with  a  pair  of  cruel  spurs,  he  mounted 
astride  the  bull,  struck  his  spurs  vigorously  into  the  sides 


EARLY  LIFE.  13 

He  was  twenty-one  years  old  when  he  was  married, 
which  event  occurred  in  the  year  1739.*  His  wife 
was  Miss  Hannah  Pope,  whose  father — Mr.  John 
Pope — lived  in  Salem  also;  and  their  family  after- 
wards counted  four  sons  and  six  daughters,  f  The 
year  after  he  married,  he  emigrated  from  Salem  to 
the  town  of  Pomfret,  in  Connecticut,  where  he  had 
bought  a  tract  of  land  for  the  purpose.  The  part  of 

of  the  furious  animal,  and  rode  him  until  the  bull  was 
completely  tired  out  and  subdued. 

Grim  was  the  humor  he  displayed  in  connection  with 
the  negro,  "  Cudge."  The  master — for  slavery  obtained 
in  New  England  at  that  period — called  in  Israel  Putnam 
to  help  him  chastise  the  insubordinate  slave.  The  negro 
was  first  to  be  tied  so  as  to  make  the  process  of  whipping 
easier.  Putnam,  however,  slipped  the  rope  over  both  mas- 
ter and  slave,  bound  them  firmly  together,  then  drew  taut 
the  other  end  of  the  rope,  which  had  been  thrown  over  a 
beam  in  the  barn,  tied  the  men  up,  and  then  left  them 
to  settle  matters  with  each  other.  The  negro,  naturally 
enough,  was  the  first  to  see  the  fun  in  the  affair,  but 
finally  the  saving  sense  of  humor  penetrated  also  the  white 
man's  intelligence.  The  affair  was  settled  satisfactorily  to 
all  parties  concerned,  and  discipline  was  fully  restored 
without  the  use  of  the  lash. 

*  Before  Israel  was  of  age,  he  assumed  the  care  of  the 
Salem  farm.  This  was  the  more  significant  as  he  was  the 
youngest  but  one  of  the  family  of  twelve  children.  He 
built  for  himself  a  house  upon  the  portion  of  the  farm  that 
was  set  apart  for  himself.  He  was  thus  an  independent 
farmer  before  his  marriage,  which  took  place  when  he  was 
twenty-one  years  of  age. 

t  The  first  son,  named  Israel  for  his  father,  was  born 
in  this  farm  house  in  Salem.  The  other  children  were 
born  in  Connecticut. 


14:  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

Pomfret  in  which  he  settled  is  now  included  in  the 
pleasant  little  inland  town  of  Brooklyn;  and  the 
outlines  of  the  foundation  of  his  house  are  still  to  be 
distinctly  traced  in  the  turf,  together  with  the  raised 
walk  up  to  the  door.  The  well  he  digged  is  yet 
pointed  out,  though  it  is  not  at  present  used;  and  in 
one  of  the  old  elm  trees  that  stood  before  his  door, 
are  the  iron  staples  on  which  he  hung  the  tavern  sign, 
just  before  the  Revolutionary  days,  to  inform  travel- 
lers that  he  could  temporarily  entertain  both  them- 
selves and  their  beasts. 

There  was  no  better  farmer  in  his  day,  the  whole 
country  round  than  young  Mr.  Israel  Putnam 
proved  himself  to  be.  He  opened  new  and  unculti- 
vated lands ;  built  good  walls  and  fences ;  stocked  his 
pastures ;  planted  his  orchards ;  erected  a  comfortable 
and  most  delightful  homestead;  and,  by  his  thrift, 
industry,  and  true  agricultural  taste,  succeeded,  in  a 
short  time,  in  establishing  himself  as  a  well-to-do 
and  most  successful  farmer.  He  had  a  young  family 
brood  growing  up  about  him.  His  herds  and  flocks 
increased  and  multiplied.  He  found  that  his  land 
was  especially  adapted  to  the  raising  of  sheep,  and, 
accordingly,  he  bent  his  energies  to  the  production  of 
wool.  So  successful  was  he  in  this  enterprise  in  a 
brief  period  of  time,  that  he  was  popularly  reckoned 
one  of  the  largest  wool  growers  of  the  country,  and 


EARLY  LIFE.  15 

his  profits  accumulated  at  a  rate  that  soon  put  him 
in  circumstances  beyond  the  possible  reach  of  poverty 
or  want.* 

It  was  owing  altogether  to  his  having  taken  so  ex- 
tensive an  interest  in  the  raising  of  sheep,  that  his 
adventure  with  the  wolf  became  a  piece  of  history. 
During  several  seasons  he  seemed  to  have  suffered 
from  rather  hard  luck,  both  in  his  crops  and  his  live 
stock;  what  with  drought,  and  dry-rot,  and  hard 
winters,  he  felt  that  his  losses,  continued  through 
several  ensuing  years,  were  quite  as  large  as  he  felt 
able  to  submit  to.  But  when  it  came  to  the  losses  in 
his  sheep-fold,  which  were  more  and  more  severe 
every  winter,  he  roused  himself  to  see  if  the  mischief 


*  In  1739,  Putnam  and  his  brother-in-law,  John  Pope,  who 
was  also  twenty-one  years  of  age,  bought  a  farm  of  a 
little  more  than  500  acres  in  Pomfret,  Connecticut,  for  the 
sum  of  £2,572.  Putnam  built  for  himself  a  small  house 
and  cleared  as  much  ground  as  he  could.  He  then  (1740) 
returned  for  his  wife  and  child  and  removed  them  to  their 
new  home.  His  industry  and  energy  quickly  bore  fruit. 
Within  a  year  he  not  only  bought  out  his  partner  but 
paid  off  the  full  amount  of  the  mortgage  and  received  his 
quitclaim  deed  June  13,  1741.  He  also  had  the  luxury  of 
a  negro  servant.  The  farm  was  well  located  and  the  virgin 
soil  fertile.  The  crop  of  boulders  was  quickly  transformed 
into  fences  after  the  manner  of  New  England  farming.  In 
addition  to  grain,  vegetables,  and  live  stock,  the  products 
included  lumber,  while  a  variety  of  apple  trees  enriched 
the  place.  This  farming  life  was  remarkably  remunerative 
from  the  very  first. 


16  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

could  not  by  some  means  be  stopped  where  it  was.  It 
v/as  pretty  conclusively  proved  that  the  work  of 
slaughter  was  performed  by  a  single  she-wolf,  who, 
with  her  new  family  of  whelps  every  year,  came  from 
a  long  distance  to  get  her  regular  winter's  living  off 
the  fatlings  of  his  hillsides  and  pastures.  ISTor  was 
he  the  only  sufferer  by  her  bold  depredations.  Nearly 
all  the  neighboring  farmers  were  forced  to  submit  to 
these  losses,  as  well  as  himself,  and  they  were  quite 
ready  to  undertake,  with  him,  the  destruction  of  the 
ravenous  creature  who  was  committing  such  a  general 
havoc. 

This  she-wolf  was  an  old  jade,  and  very  sly  and 
shrewd  withal.  Almost  every  year  the  hunters,  with 
their  dogs,  had  fallen  in  with  some  of  her  whelps, 
and  made  an  end  of  them  on  the  spot ;  but  they  never 
could  manage  to  come  upon  her  in  a  position  from 
which  she  did  not  possess  the  cunning  to  somehow 
escape.  Once  they  had  succeeded  in  getting  her  to 
put  her  foot  into  their  steel-trap;  but  rather  than 
wait  for  them  to  come  to  a  final  settlement  with  her 
for  her  many  crimes,  she  concluded  she  had  better 
lose  her  toes  and  make  the  best  of  her  way  off  without 
them.  She  preferred  to  sacrifice  these,  and  so  save 
her  skin  whole. 

Putnam  got  together  five  of  his  neighbors,  there- 
fore, and  laid  before  them  his  proposal  to  hunt  the 


EARLY  LIFE.  17 

old  wolf  down;  not  to  give  her  any  further  rest  or 
peace  until  they  got  her  into  a  place  from  which  there 
could  be  no  escape.  The  arrangement  was,  that  they 
were  to  take  turns  at  the  business,  two  at  a  time,  and 
follow  her  up  day  and  night,  till  she  was  traced  to 
her  den,  unless  they  might  have  the  good  luck  to  de- 
stroy her  before  she  reached  it.  It  was  early  in  the 
winter  when  the  pursuit  began,  and,  as  it  happened, 
a  light  snow  had  fallen  to  aid  them  in  their  design. 
The  clipped  toes  of  one  of  the  creature's  feet,  too, 
would  assist  the  hunters  in  following  her  track,  of 
which  fact  they  were  not  slow  to  take  advantage. 

They  came  upon  her  footprints,  after  a  time,  and 
pursued  her  along  by  this  single  mark  of  the  lost  toes 
through  the  country  to  the  Connecticut  river;  show- 
ing that  she  was  at  least  an  extensive  traveller. 
Reaching  the  river's  bank,  and  finding  her  course 
thus  intercepted,  back  she  started  again  for  Pomfret. 
The  hunters  were  close  upon  her,  and  readily  found 
where  she  had  doubled  upon  herself.  They  pressed 
on  as  hastily  as  they  could,  over  hill  and  through  vale, 
pushing  through  swamps  and  wooded  places  after  her, 
as  if  nothing  had  stood  in  her  way.  At  an  early  hour 
on  the  second  morning  after  setting  out,  they  had 
succeeded  in  driving  her  into  her  den  in  a  rocky 
ledge>  situated  some  three  miles  to  the  north  from 


18  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

Putnam's  Louse,  and  within  the  limits  of  the  town  of 
Pomfret 

She  was  carefully  watched  by  one  of  the  men, 
while  the  other  went  to  give  the  alarm  to  the  farmers 
around.  It  was  not  long  before  the  woods  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  cave  were  swarming  with  the  male  in- 
habitants of  the  town,  including  a  pretty  large 
sprinkling  of  boys.  They  brought  along  with  them 
a  liberal  supply  of  dogs,  guns,  straw,  and  sulphur, 
prepared  to  smoke  her  out,  burn  her  out,  punch  her 
out,  or,  in  any  event,  to  shoot  her.  The  shouting  and 
the  clamor  resounded  a  great  ways  from  the  steep 
hill-side  where  the  transaction  took  place,  as  if  they 
had  come  with  the  intention  to  make  a  good  time  of 
it.  The  boys,  in  particular,  were  delighted  with  the 
prospect  of  the  fun  there  was  ahead,  and  kicked  and 
capered  about  in  the  exuberance  of  their  spirits.  It 
was  a  great  thing  for  them  to  be  allowed  to  take  a 
part  in  such  sport  with  their  elders. 

After  a  council  of  war  had  been  held,  and  a  close 
scrutiny  of  the  retreat  chosen  by  their  crafty  enemy 
had  been  indulged  in,  it  was  generally  concluded  that 
the  wolf  was  not  such  a  great  fool  in  going  into  this 
cavity  as  they  might  have  thought  her.  She  was,  to 
all  intents  and  purposes,  in  her  fortress.  How  should 
they  go  to  work  to  get  her  out  ?  At  first  they  tried 
tantalization, — sending  in  their  dogs,  who  came  out 


EARLY  LIFE.  10 

again  yelping  and  crying,  with  lacerated  skins,  and 
torn  and  bloody  noses,  showing  how  skilfully  she 
had  used  her  claws  in  her  own  defence.  They  could 
not  prevail  on  the  dogs  that  had  tried  the  entrance 
once,  to  go  in  the  second  time.  So  they  next  hit  upon 
the  plan  to  stuff  in  lighted  bundles  of  straw,  sprinkled 
liberally  with  sulphur,  hoping  thus  to  smoke  her  out. 
They  very  truly  argued  that,  if  she  could  stand  that, 
she  must  be  too  much  for  them  to  think  of  attacking. 
Accordingly,  the  straw  was  piled  in,  and  set  on 
fire.  The  dense  volumes  of  smoke  rose  and  rolled 
slowly  into  the  cave,  and  they  thought  they  were  go- 
ing to  secure  their  game  this  time  without  any  fur- 
ther trouble.  But  they  looked,  and  continued  to  look 
in  vain  for  the  appearance  of  anything  like  a  wolf. 
The  smoke  could  not  have  reached  her ;  or,  if  it  did, 
it  failed  to  have  the  effect  upon  her  they  had  calcu- 
lated. 

Time  was  wearing  on  in  this  way,  and  nothing 
seemed  likely  to  come  of  all  their  labor  at  last.  It 
wanted  now  but  about  a  couple  of  hours  to  midnight. 
They  were  not  willing  to  go  home  and  leave  their 
dreaded  enemy  where  she  was,  unharmed,  and  free 
to  repeat  her  bloody  mischief.  Again  they  tried  to 
coax  the  dogs  to  go  in ;  but  they  could  not  so  readily 
make  the  animals  forget  the  rough  treatment  they 
had  received  on  a  previous  visit.  Israel  Putnam 


20  UFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

felt  the  need  of  some  one's  making  a  decisive  move- 
ment, lest  the  matter  should  fall  through  entirely. 
He  therefore  ordered  a  man-servant  to  undertake  the 
step  needed ;  but  he  declined  very  positively.  An  ap- 
peal was  made  to  the  whole  company  present,  to  know 
.if  there  was  any  one  who  dared  undertake  this  most 
undesirable  piece  of  business;  but  the  appeal  was 
made  in  vain.  Neither  man  nor  boy  was  willing  to 
risk  his  life  in  an  encounter  with  a  mad  animal  at  the 
further  end  of  a  subterranean  cave,  which  had  already 
shown  such  a  disposition  to  stand  her  ground  and  face 
her  opponents  down  at  any  hazard. 

Finally  it  became  difficult  to  endure  this  state  of 
suspense  any  longer,  and  Putnam  took  his  resolution. 
It  was  a  bold,  and  no  doubt  a  very  reckless  one ;  but 
when  he  considered,  in  a  flash  of  his  thought,  the 
amount  of  the  losses  incurred  by  his  neighbors  as  well 
as  himself,  from  the  depredations  of  this  ravenous 
wild  beast,  he  wondered  how  it  was  possible  for  any 
one  to  hesitate.  He  declared  he  would  go  down  and 
meet  the  old  wolf  himself.  The  farmers  were  over- 
whelmed with  astonishment,  and  tried  to  dissuade 
him  from  carrying  out  his  rash  purpose.  But  all  they 
could  say  had  no  effect  whatever  upon  him.  He  was 
determined  to  put  an  end  to  the  existence  of  the  wolf, 
and  to  do  it  on  that  very  night. 

Well  aware  of  the  fear  inspired  in  a  wild  animal 


EARLY  LIFE.  21 

by  the  sight  of  fire,  he  provided  himself  with  a  large 
quantity  of  birch  bark,  torn  into  shreds,  before  going 
into  the  cave,  and  lighted  a  sufficient  number  for  his 
immediate  purpose.  These  furnished  all  the  light  he 
had  by  which  to  guide  himself  along  the  winding 
passages  of  the  rocky  cavern.  Stripping  off  his  coat 
and  waistcoat,  with  a  lighted  torch  in  one  hand,  he 
entered  the  dark  aperture  at  near  midnight,  crawl- 
ing slowly  upon  his  hands  and  knees. 

The  mouth  of  the  wolf's  den  was  about  two  feet 
square.  From  this  point  it  proceeds  downwards 
about  fifteen  feet,  then  it  runs  horizontally  for  some 
ten  feet  more,  and  afterwards  it  ascends  very  easily 
for  sixteen  feet  towards  its  termination.  The  sides 
of  the  cave  are  of  solid  rock,  and  quite  smooth ;  the 
top  and  bottom  are  of  the  same  material ;  it  is  but 
three  feet  in  width,  and  in  no  part  can  a  man  stand 
upright.  Putnam  groped  his  way  along  by  the  aid  of 
his  flaring  and  smoking  torches,  until  he  reached  the 
level  portion  of  the  cavity.  All  was  still  as  a  tomb, 
and  his  feeble  torchlight  was  able  to  penetrate  but  a 
little  distance  into  the  surrounding  gloom.  lie  was 
obliged  to  advance  but  slowly,  and  every  few  moments 
it  became  necessary  for  him  to  renew  his  torch,  which 
he  did  with  the  greatest  care,  lest  it  might  go  out  in 
the  lighting,  and  he  be  left  in  the  profoundest  dark- 
ness. 


22  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

After  creeping  over  the  ten  feet  of  the  level  por- 
tion of  the  cave,  he  came  to  the  ascent.  Onward  he 
dragged  his  slow  and  toilsome  way,  till  his  progress 
was  suddenly  arrested  by  the  sight  of  a  pair  of  glar- 
ing eyeballs  at  the  very  extremity  of  the  cavern. 
There  sat  the  old  wolf  herself;  and,  as  she  saw  the 
flash  of  the  torch  he  carried  in  his  hand,  she  gnashed 
her  teeth  and  uttered  a  low  and  threatening  growl. 
The  brave  and  venturesome  young  farmer  took  a 
hasty  view  of  things  in  the  cave,  and  then  gave  a 
kick  at  the  rope  which  his  friends  had  tied  about  one 
of  his  legs  before  he  made  the  descent,  by  way  of 
precaution.  Fearing  that  the  worst  had  befallen 
him,  they  pulled  more  excitedly  at  the  rope  than  was 
necessary ;  and,  before  he  could  have  protested  against 
such  rough  treatment,  he  found  himself  dragged  out 
upon  the  ground  before  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  with 
"  his  shirt  stripped  over  his  head,  and  his  skin  se- 
verely lacerated."  They  had  heard  the  growl  of  the 
wolf  outside,  and  feared  that  he  was  involved  in  a 
struggle  with  her  for  life  or  death.  Besides,  it  was 
known  that  he  had  carried  no  weapons  into  the  cave 
with  him,  and  they  were  more  solicitous  on  that  ac- 
count. 

This  time,  however,  he  loaded  his  gun,  took  more 
torches,  and  went  down  better  prepared  for  the  en- 
counter. He  knew  his  way  along  of  course  better 


EARLY  LIFE.  23 

(than  before;  but  he  was  now  burdened  with  his  mus- 
ket. When  he  came  in  sight  of  the  wolf  again,  she 
was  in  the  same  place  and  position,  but  appeared  a 
great  deal  more  dissatisfied  with  his  company.  The 
account  of  his  early  biographer  and  personal  friend 
states  that  she  wore  an  aspect  of  great  fierceness: 
"  howling,  rolling  her  eyes,  snapping  her  teeth,  and 
dropping  her  head  between  her  legs.  She  was  evi- 
dently in  the  attitude,  and  on  the  point  of  springing 
at  her  assailant.  At  that  critical  moment  he  levelled 
his  piece,  aiming  directly  at  her  head,  and  fired. 
Stunned  with  the  shock,  and  suffocated  with  the 
smoke  of  the  powder,  he  immediately  found  himself 
drawn  out  of  the  cave."  But  this  time  his  friends 
took  a  little  more  care  not  to  strip  his  shirt  over  his 
shoulders,  nor  to  tear  his  skin  against  the  jagged 
edges  of  the  rock. 

He  allowed  a  few  moments  for  the  smoke  to  es- 
cape from  the  chambers  of  the  cavern,  and  then  went 
in  again  to  secure  his  prize.  On  examination  he 
found  his  old  enemy  lying  dead  on  the  floor  of  the 
cave  at  its  further  extremity,  in  a  pool  of  blood.  Ho 
had  taken  aim  to  some  purpose.  In  order  to  satisfy 
himself  that  she  was  really  dead,  he  applied  his  torch 
to  her  nose ;  she  made  no  *  signs  of  life.  Accord- 

*Tlils  adventure  with  the  wolf,  by  which  perhapa  man 


24  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

ingly,  he  seized  her  by  her  ears,  gave  the  rope  around 
his  leg  an  exulting  kick,  and  out  he  went,  with  his 
precious  prize  dragging  after  him,  into  the  midst  of 
the  crowd  at  the  mouth  of  the  cavern,  who  showered 
their  praises  and  congratulations  upon  him  without 
stint.  They  sent  up  a  shout  of  delight  that  filled  the 
wintry  woods  with  its  echoes.  Their  arch  enemy 
at  length  lay  stretched  out  stark  and  stiff  at  their 
feet. 

From  that  hour,  Israel  Putnam  was  a  hero  in  the 
eyes  and  mouth  of  everybody.  He  came  very  soon 
to  be  known  far  and  wide  as  the  slayer  of  the  old 
she-wolf  that  had  made  such  havoc  with  the  farmer's 
folds,  and  people  loved  to  repeat  a  story  that  had 

than  by  anything  else,  Putnam's  early  life  is  remembered, 
does  not  command  unqualified  approval.  A  more  prudent 
and  equally  effective  method  would  have  been  to  block  the 
mouth  of  the  cave  with  an  impassible  trap,  or  even  to 
wall  it  up  with  masonry.  But  this  safe  method  would  have 
lacked  the  dramatic  element  demanded  by  so  ardent  a 
nature  as  Putnam's. 

The  real  value  of  this  incident  is  that  it  shows  that 
Putnam  had  no  sense  of  fear.  The  reader  will  readily 
recall  the  parallel  of  Admiral  Nelson.  At  the  age  of  fifteen 
young  Nelson  attacked  a  polar  bear  with  no  weapon  but 
a  pike-staff.  When  asked  if  he  was  not  afraid,  he  replied: 
"  Sir,  I  am  not  acquainted  with  Mr.  Fear." 

On  the  other  hand,  the  greatest  general  of  the  XlXth 
century,  U.  S.  Grant,  and  the  greatest  warrior  of  the  XVI  Ith 
century,  Marshal  Turenne,  of  France,  were  decidedly  sus- 
ceptible to  fear.  Grant  outgrew  this  early  in  the  war,  and 
Turenne  overcame  it  by  pure  force  of  will. 


EARLY  LIFE.  25 

such  decided  elements  of  romance  and  daring  in  it; 
for  it  excited  them  quite  as  much  in  the  telling  as  it 
did  others  in  the  hearing.  The  story  grew,  too,  as  it 
travelled,  and  Putnam's  fame  of  course  grew  along 
with  it.  He  was  known  among  the  officers  of  the 
army,  with  whom  he  fought  during  the  Seven  Years' 
War,  as  "  the  Old  Wolf ;  "  and  his  fame  reached 
England  through  the  aid  of  the  public  journals, 
which  are  generally  not  behind  in  chronicling  such 
a  truly  bold  and  daring  adventure.* 

The  dozen  years  that  Putnam  followed  the  peace- 
ful pursuits  of  a  farmer,  between  this  notable  event 
and  the  breaking  out  of  the  French  war,  he  indus- 
triously made  the  most  of.  In  that  time,  by  his 
thrifty  management,  he  laid  the  foundation  of  a  per- 
manent and  abundant  fortune,  for  those  days  of  sim- 
plicity, and  provided  for  those  wants,  which  other- 
wise must  have  been  unprovided  for  entirely,  apper- 
taining to  advanced  age  and  a  life  generously  spent 
in  behalf  of  the  liberties  of  his  country.  When  he 
retired  from  public  service  altogether,  it  was  a  com- 
fortable reflection  for  him  that  he  had  a  good  home 
to  which  to  withdraw  his  weary  self,  where  he  might 

*  The  wolf-den,  being  a  part  of  the  everlasting  hills,  is 
still  to  be  seen  in  the  town  of  Pomfret,  and  it  is  the  Mecca 
of  many  a  student  of  the  history  of  early  patriotism.  The 
den  is  unchanged  except  for  an  inscription  on  one  of  the 
rocks  at  its  entrance. 


26  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

pass  his  latest  years  unreached  by  the  gripe  of  pov- 
erty and  want,  and  secure  in  the  friendship  and  af- 
fection of  the  happy  family  group  that  there  budded 
and  blossomed  like  Jjeautiful  plants  around  him. 


CHAPTEK  II. 

THE  FEENCH  WAS. 

THE  struggle  between  the  English  and  the  French 
for  the  mastery  of  this  continent,  deserves  more  than 
the  mere  allusion  to  it  as  an  historical  fact,  which  is 
all  we  are  able  in  this  place  to  give.  The  Indians 
that  swarmed  in  the  northern  forests,  and  about  the 
lakes  and  streams,  were,  the  greater  part  of  them,  en- 
listed on  the  side  of  the  French,  and  showed  them- 
selves ready  to  perform  any  of  those  barbarities  that 
were  asked  of  them  in  the  wild  excitement  of  the 
times.  These  Indians  were  the  worst  foes  that  ever 
white  men  were  forced  to  meet.  They  were  stealthy 
and  secret;  they  skulked  and  hid  in  every  nook  and 
corner ;  they  started  out  unexpectedly  from  every  tree 
in  the  forest.  In  their  dispositions  they  were  vin- 
dictive and  remorseless;  they  would  fight  for  pay 
rather  than  from  friendship,  and  hence  employed 
both  the  tomahawk  and  the  scalping-knife  without 
either  measure  or  mercy.  Such  an  enemy  was  a  thou- 
sand times  more  dangerous  to  encounter  than  an  open 
enemy;  because  the  English  were  at  no  time  certain 

27 


28  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

that  he  would  not  come  upon  them  when  they  were 
least  expecting  it. 

It  required  unusually  prudent,  sagacious,  and 
brave  men  to  officer  a  force  that  should  be  sent  out  to 
meet  an  enemy,  too,  with  such  an  ally.  Hence,  the 
colonial  governments  were  frequently  at  a  loss  how 
to  act,  so  as  not  to  compromise  the  safety  of  the  peo- 
ple for  whom  they  were  authorized  to  act. 

This  so-called  French  War  began  in  the  year  1755, 
with  three  separate  military  expeditions :  one  of  Gen- 
eral Shirley  against  Fort  Niagara;  one  of  General 
Braddock,  against  Fort  Duquesne;  and  a  third  of 
Sir  William  Johnson  against  Baron  Dieskau,  at  Fort 
Edward,  situated  on  Lake  George.*  This  last  had  a 

*  The  Seven  Years'  War  was  at  the  outset  a  conflict 
between  Frederick  the  Great  and  Maria  Theresa  over  the 
question  of  the  succession  to  the  throne  of  Austria,  The 
international  complications  were  such  that  nearly  every 
nation  in  Europe  was  drawn  into  the  war.  The  conflict 
between  France  and  England  was  fought  out  not  on  Euro- 
pean soil,  but  in  India  and  America,  and  it  resulted  in  both 
these  countries  establishing  English  dominance.  In  Amer- 
ica, the  English  and  French  colonists  knew  little  and  cared 
less  about  the  Austrian  succession;  yet  it  was  the  discus- 
sion of  that  question  that  made  this  continent  English 
rather  than  French. 

William  Shirley  (17057-1771),  was  appointed  royal  gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts  in  1741,  and  commander-in-chief 
of  the  British  forces  in  America  in  1755. 

Edward  Braddock  (17157-1755),  is  chiefly  known  by  his 
defeat  by  the  Indians  and  his  death  in  a  battle  near  Pitts- 
burg,  while  he  was  on  his  way  to  fort  Duquesne.  George 


THE  FRENCH  WAR.  29 

successful  termination ;  the  others  were  fruitless  and 
unfortunate. 

Israel  Putnam  received  an  appointment  to  the 
captaincy  of  a  company  of  provincial  soldiers,  volun- 
teers of  Connecticut,  and  this  company  composed  a 
part  of  the  regiment  under  command  of  General  Ly- 
man.  Everybody  knew  Putnam  for  a  fearless  and 
trusty  man ;  and  although  it  is  positive  that  he  had 
had  no  previous  military  experience,  yet  his  winning 
frankness  and  hearty  honesty  soon  attracted  to  his 
standard  a  crowd  of  the  finest  young  men  the  whole 
colony  afforded.  It  was  a  deserved  compliment  to 
such  a  man,  and  he  would  certainly  have  been  the 
last  one  to  betray  the  high  confidence  thus  reposed  in 
him. 

The  expedition,  of  which  his  company  and  regi- 
ment formed  a  part,  had  for  its  object  the  reduction 
of  Crown  Point,  a  fortified  place  on  Lake  Cham- 
Washington  served  under  him  in  that  disastrous  battle,  and 
to  him  it  is  due  that  the  entire  British  force  was  not  anni- 
hilated. 

Sir  William  Johnson  (17157-1774),  was  noted  for  the 
influence  he  exercised  over  the  Indians.  He  later  wrote 
a  treatise  on  the  customs  and  languages  of  the  Indians. 

Baron  Ludwig  August  von  Dieskau  (died  in  1767),  was  a 
German  officer  in  the  French  service.  In  1755  he  was  sent 
to  Quebec  as  field  marshal  (marcchal-de-camp) .  After 
his  capture  he  was  sent  to  England,  and  upon  his  release 
he  went  to  France.  The  closing  years  of  his  life  he  spent 
in  and  near  Paris. 


30  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

plain.  Massachusetts  Colony  started  the  project,  and 
she,  together  with  Connecticut  and  New  York,  was 
determined  to  carry  it  out  to  success  if  possible.  The 
command  of  the  entire  expedition  was  given  to  Gen- 
eral William  Johnson,  one  of  the  leading  men  in  the 
New  York  Colony,  and  the  troops  were  to  collect  at 
Albany  as  a  central  depot.  It  was  late  in  June  when 
they  assembled.  Early  in  August  they  began  to  move 
forward,  and  reached  the  point  from  which  all  the 
necessary  accompaniments  of  warlike  operations  were 
to  be  transported  across  the  land  to  Lake  George. 
Gen.  Lyman  had  already  begun  to  erect  a  fortifica- 
tion at  this  point,  which  went  by  the  name  of  Fort 
Edward. 

Later  in  August,  the  main  body  of  the  army  took 
up  its  march,  and  pressed  on  till  it  reached  the  south- 
ern point  of  Lake  George.  It  was  learned  from  In- 
dian scouts  that  a  large  body  of  French  and  Indians 
were  stationed  at  Ticonderoga,  since  become  an  im- 
mortal name,  which  is  the  point  at  which  Lake 
George  empties,  with  its  thundering  sound,  into  Lake 
Champlain.  They  had  not  yet  thrown  up  any  works 
there,  and  Johnson  therefore  felt  more  desirous  to 
proceed  as  soon  as  possible,  with  a  part  of  his  army, 
and  seize  the  place  before  they  could  recover  suffi- 
ciently from  their  astonishment  at  his  appearance,  to 
make  a  proper  defence. 


THE  FRENCH  WAR.  31 

"But  Baron  Dieskau,  the  French  commander,  had, 
in  the  meantime,  become  apprised  of  the  position  and 
projects  of  the  provincial  forces  at  Fort  Edward,  and 
hastened  to  attack  them  before  their  works  were  all 
completed.  If  he  could  succeed  in  this  plan,  it  was 
then  his  determination  to  move  down  upon  Albany, 
and  the  other  towns  within  reach,  and  lay  them  waste 
with  all  possible  celerity.  Accordingly,  he  took  two 
thousand  men  with  him  from  Crown  Point,  and, 
landing  at  South  Bay,  started  across  the  land  for 
Fort  Edward.  He  even  kept  the  design  of  this  move- 
ment a  secret  until  he  had  come  within  a  couple  of 
miles  of  the  provincial  forces.  When  he  at  length 
made  his  plans  known,  the  Indians  murmured,  de- 
claring they  never  would  fight  against  the  cannon'  and 
musketry  of  the  English.  This  obliged  him,  there- 
fore, to  change  his  purpose,  and  he  pushed  on  towards 
the  north,  to  surprise  the  English  at  the  southern 
point  of  Lake  George.  General  Johnson  was  in  com- 
mand there,  as  already  stated.  His  scouts  came  into 
camp  and  informed  him  of  the  approach  of  Dieskau, 
with  his  Canadian  and  Indian  allies. 

It  was  at  once  determined  to  send  forward  a  de- 
tachment to  meet  them,  and  offer  them  battle.  Col. 
Williams  *  commanded  the  entire  body,  which  con- 

*  Ephraim  Williams  (1715-1755),  was  born  at  Newton, 
Massachusetts;  "  served  in  King  George's  war;  built  Fort 


32  TTFR  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

sisted  of  a  thousand  provincials  and  about  two  hun- 
dred friendly  Indians.  They  came  upon  the  French 
some  four  miles  out  from  the  camp,  and  found  the  lat- 
ter all  skilfully  prepared  to  meet  them.  Dieskau  had 
arranged  the  French  troops  in  the  centre,  while  the 
Canadians  and  Indians  were  stationed  along  in  the 
woods  on  either  wing,  so  as  to  surround  the  English 

Massachusetts  (near  Williamstown,  Massachusetts) ;  com- 
manded a  regiment  of  Massachusetts  troops  in  the  French 
and  Indian  war;  and  fell  in  an  ambuscade "  near  Lake 
George.  His  memory  is  perpetuated  in  Williams  College. 
"  Leaving  a  garrison  in  Fort  Edward,  Johnson  moved 
with  about  5,000  men  to  the  head  of  Lake  George,  and 
there  formed  a  camp,  intending  to  descend  into  Lake  Cham- 
plain.  Hendrick,  the  celebrated  Mohawk  chief,  with  his 
warriors,  were  among  these  troops.  Israel  Putnam,  too, 
was  there  as  a  captain,  and  John  Stark  as  a  lieutenant, 
each  taking  lessons  in  warfare.  The  French  were  not 
idle;  the  district  of  Montreal  made  the  most  strenuous  ex- 
ertions to  meet  the  invading  foe.  All  the  men  who  were 
able  to  bear  arms  were  called  into  active  service;  so  that, 
to  gather  in  the  harvest,  their  places  were  supplied  by  men 
from  other  districts.  The  energetic  Baron  Dieskau  re- 
solved, by  a  bold  attack,  to  terrify  the  invaders.  Taking 
with  him  200  regulars,  and  about  1200  Canadians  and 
Indians,  he  set  out  to  capture  Fort  Edward;  but,  as  he 
drew  near,  the  Indians  heard  that  it  was  defended  by 
cannon,  which  they  greatly  dreaded,  and  they  refused  to 
advance.  He  now  changed  his  plan,  and  resolved  to  attack 
Johnson's  camp,  which  was  supposed  to  be  without  cannon. 
Meantime  scouts  had  reported  to  Johnson  that  they  had 
seen  roads  made  through  the  woods  in  the  direction  of 
Fort  Edward.  Not  knowing  the  movements  of  Dieskau,  a 
detachment  of  1,000  men,  under  Colonel  Ephraim  Williams, 
of  Massachusetts,  and  200  Mohawks,  under  Hendrick, 


THE  FRENCH  WAR.  33 

forces  as  soon  as  they  had  advanced  far  enough  into 
this  well-set  trap.  Had  not  the  engagement  begun  as 
soon  as  it  did,  the  plan  of  the  French  Baron  would 
unquestionably  have  worked  well;  but,  as  it  was,  it 
did  not  operate  quite  so  exactly  to  his  mind.  The 
provincials  fought  like  the  brave  men  they  were,  and 
were  forced  at  last  to  fall  back.  Col.  Williams  was 
slain  in  the  battle,  and  so  was  Hendrick,  the  famous 
Mohawk  Indian  chief,  who  had  been  a  firm  friend 
to  the  English  and  provincials. 

The  vanquished  forces  retreated  till  they  reached 
the  main  body,  under  General  Johnson.  This  en- 
gagement had  taken  place  before  noon.  It  was  just 
about  noon,  then,  when  the  French  forces  came  up  to 


marched  to  relieve  that  post.  The  French  had  informa- 
tion of  their  approach  and  placed  themselves  in  ambush. 
They  were  concealed  among  the  thick  bushes  of  a  swamp 
on  the  one  side,  and  rocks  and  trees  on  the  other  side. 
The  English  recklessly  marched  into  the  defile.  They  were 
vigorously  attacked  and  thrown  into  confusion.  Hendrick 
was  almost  instantly  killed,  and  in  a  short  time  Williams 
fell  also." — Patton. 

On  this  march  Colonel  Williams  asked  Hendrick  if  he 
thought  their  force  sufficient.  The  sagacious  Mohawk 
answered:  "  If  they  are  to  fight,  they  are  too  few;  if  they 
are  to  be  killed,  they  are  too  many.  It  was  then  proposed 
to  divide  up  the  foree.  Hendrick  picked  up  three  sticks, 
put  them  together,  and  said :  "  These  cannot  easily  be 
broken,  but  take  them  one  by  one  and  you  may  break  them 
at  once."  He  probably  realized  that  he  was  marching  on 
to  his  death. 


34  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

renew  the  battle,  flushed  and  eager  with  their  recent 
victory.  On  each  side  of  the  American  position, 
which  was  upon  the  bank  of  Lake  George,  lay  a 
swamp,  densely  covered  with  trees.  Gen.  Johnson 
had  mounted  a  few  pieces  of  cannon,  which  he  had 
fortunately  received  from  Fort  Edward,  and  a  breast- 
work was  hastily  constructed  by  felling  trees.  On 
came  the  French  in  regular  order,  expecting  only  a 
second  victory.  After  pausing  for  a  brief  moment  at 
a  distance  from  the  breastworks,  they  fell  upon  the 
centre  with  great  spirit,  while  the  Canadians  and  In- 
dians attacked  the  two  flanks  in  the  hope  of  turn- 
ing them. 

The  assault  upon  the  centre  did  not  prove  as  de- 
structive to  the  provincial  forces  as  was  calculated; 
on  the  contrary,  the  latter  took  fresh  courage  on  see- 
ing how  little  damage  the  French  were  able  to  do 
them.  As  soon  as  they  began  to  play  their  cannon 
upon  the  advancing  enemy  with  such  terrible  effect, 
the  allied  Indians  and  Canadians  took  to  their  heels 
in  a  paroxysm  of  fear,  being  quite  unused  to  so  de- 
structive an  engine  of  warfare.  Baron  Dieskau  in 
consequence  was  obliged  to  retreat  in  great  haste  and 
confusion,  and  his  force  was  hotly  pursued  by  a  por- 
tion of  the  provincial  army.  The  Baron  himself  was 
wounded,  and  found  leaning  against  a  stump,  all 
alone.  An  American  seeing  him  feeling  for  hia 


THE  FRENCH  WAR.  35 

watch,  with  which  he  probably  hoped  to  bribe  hia 
pursuers,  supposed  he  was  searching  for  his  pistol; 
upon  which  he  inflicted  upon  him  a  wound  in  the  hip 
with  a  musket  ball,  which  finally  proved  mortal  He 
was  carried  a  prisoner  into  the  camp  in  a  blanket,  and 
treated  tenderly.  Afterwards  he  was  taken  to  Al- 
bany, then  to  Kew  York,  and  finally  to  England. 

Being  pursued  for  some  four  miles,  the  French  at 
length  halted  to  refresh  themselves  on  the  very 
ground  where  the  battle  of  the  morning  had  been 
fought.  How  different  were  their  feelings  then,  from 
their  feelings  of  a  few  brief  hours  before!  Mean- 
time Gen.  Lyman  had  despatched  a  force  up  from 
Fort  Edward  to  the  assistance  of  Gen.  Johnson,  and 
the  detachment  he  had  sent  forward*came  upon  them 
while  they  were  thus  refreshing  themselves  on  the 
morning's  battlefield.  A  second  time  they  were 
routed,  and,  on  this  occasion,  most  thoroughly.  Many 
prisoners  were  taken  and  carried  into  camp.  Thus 
opened  the  English  successes  on  the  continent  against 
the  French  forces,  with  this  brilliant  victory  of  Lake 
George.  This  was  the  battle  in  which  Joseph  Brant,* 

*  Joseph  Brant  (1740-1807),  whose  Indian  name  was 
Thay-en-da-ne-gea,  was  born  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  river, 
and  was  educated  at  Hanover,  New  Hampshire,  in  the 
school  that  afterwards  became  Dartmouth  College.  He  be- 
came a  Christian  and  was  zealous  in  good  works:  he  trans- 
lated parts  of  the  Bible  into  his  native  tongue,  and  was 


36  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM, 

the  famous  Mohawk  Indian,  then  but  thirteen  years 
old,  first  learned  the  art  of  war  from  taking  an  active 
part  in  it. 

Gen.  Johnson  at  once  proceeded  to  erect  a  fort 
•where  he  was  encamped,  which  he  named  Fort  Wil- 
liam Henry.  Israel  Putnam  not  long  afterwards 
reached  the  camp  at  Lake  George,  where,  during  the 
remainder  of  the  season,  his  active  temperament  and 
love  of  perilous  performances  peculiarly  fitted  him 
for  the  duties  which  were  then  assigned  him.  As  a 
ranger,  volunteering  his  services  on  occasions  of  great 
danger,  and  when  much  caution  was  necessary,  no 
man  in  the  provincial  army  could,  at  that  day, 
surpass  or  equal  him.  It  fell  to  him,  in  this  capacity, 
to  find  out  where  the  enemy  were,  what  was  their 
strength,  to  be  continually  alarming  their  pickets, 

unremitting  in  his  efforts  to  improve  the  intellectual,  so- 
cial, moral,  and  spiritual  condition  of  the  Indians.  He 
won  universal  esteem  as  a  cultivated  Christian  gentleman. 
He  went  as  representative  of  the  Six  Nations  to  England, 
where  his  intelligence,  courtliness  of  manner,  and  high 
character  secured  for  him  much  influence.  In  the  war  of 
the  revolution  he  held  from  the  king  the  commission  of  col- 
onel in  the  British  army,  and  in  central  New  York  he  led 
the  Tories  in  many  a  raid  that  greatly  harassed  the  patriots. 
He  was  a  brave  soldier,  and,  like  other  brave  soldiers,  was 
always  magnanimous.  At  the  close  of  that  war  he  used 
his  influence  among  the  Indians  to  persuade  them  to  engage 
in  the  arts  of  peace.  "  He  was  sagacious  and  brave,  chiv- 
alrous and  faithful,  kind  and  gentle,  and  unquestionably  the 
greatest  Indian  of  whom  we  have  any  knowledge." 


THE  FRENCH  WAR.  37 

to  devise  ways  of  harassing  and  surprising  them,  to 
act  as  a  partisan  scout  in  fetching  information  from 
the  hostile  parties,  and  in  performing  all  those  other 
active  labors  that  are  of  the  most  effective  service  to 
the  success  of  a  military  campaign  on  an  uninhab- 
ited frontier. 

Once,  during  that  season,  he  set  out  with  Captain 
Rogers  *  and  a  small  party  to  reconnoitre  the  de- 
fences at  Crown  Point.  The  forest  in  the  vicinity 
was  alive  with  Indians,  and  it  was  at  the  same  time 
impossible  for  the  whole  party  to  approach  within  the 
desirable  distance  of  the  fort.  They  concealed  the 
men,  therefore,  in  the  woods  not  far  off,  and  went  by 

*  Robert  Rogers  was  born  in  Londonderry,  New  Hamp- 
shire, in  1727.  Nothing  is  known  of  his  life  until  1755, 
when  he  entered  the  provincial  military  service  as  com- 
mander of  a  corps  known  as  "  Rogers'  Rangers."  His 
work,  which  was  chiefly  that  of  scout,  was  of  great  value 
to  the  English.  In  the  war  of  the  Revolution  he  sided 
with  the  British,  was  arrested  on  suspicion,  violated  his 
parole  to  congress,  accepted  the  commission  of  colonel  in 
the  British  army,  was  tried  by  New  Hampshire,  proscribed 
and  banished.  In  1778  he  went  to  England,  after  which 
time  he  is  lost  to  view.  It  is  by  some  supposed  that  he 
died  in  England  about  1800.  At  the  time  of  the  French- 
Indian  war  his  services  as  scout  were  of  great  value  to  the 
British,  and  in  this  capacity  he  ranked  next  to  Putnam. 
But  his  wanton  cruelty  was  in  marked  contrast  to  Putnam's 
humanity.  He  promptly  murdered  the  wounded  so  as  to 
save  himself  the  trouble  of  caring  for  them.  "  As  a  man 
his  deserts  were  small;  as  a  bush-fighter  he  was  beyond 
reproach," 


38  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

themselves  to  reconnoitre.  Creeping  along  in  the 
dark,  they  soon  came  near  to  the  fort,  where  they  re- 
mained secreted  all  through  the  night,  but  without 
obtaining  as  much  knowledge  as  they  went  after.  To- 
wards morning  they  were  more  successful ;  and,  while 
returning  by  different  ways  to  the  place  where  their 
party  lay  concealed,  a  French  guard  came  suddenly 
upon  Capt.  Rogers,  and  made  an  effort  to  stab  him, 
while  he  also  gave  the  alarm.  They  clinched  and 
struggled.  Meantime  the  guard  answered  to  the 
alarm.  Putnam  learned  the  cause  of  the  trouble, 
and  in  an  instant  flew  to  his  companion's  rescue. 
With  a  single  well-directed  blow  from  the  butt  of  his 
musket  upon  the  head  of  the  Frenchman,  he  laid  him 
out  upon  the  ground,  stark  and  dead.  Immediately 
the  two  bold  rangers  hastened  to  rejoin  their  little 
party,  with  whom  they  made  the  best  of  their  way  out 
of  the  reach  of  their  enemies. 

It  was  now  late  in  the  season,  it  being  in  the  month 
of  October.  Of  course  it  was  impracticable  to  at- 
tempt anything  more  of  a  hostile  nature  during  that 
year,  especially  as  Crown  Point  was  ascertained  to 
be  too  strongly  fortified  to  be  assailed  at  present. 
The  greater  part  of  the  army  was  therefore  dis- 
charged, leaving  but  six  hundred  men  as  a  force  with 
which  to  garrison  both  Fort  Edward  and  Fort  Wil- 
liam Henry.  During  the  same  season,  too,  the 


THE  FRENCH  WAR.  39 

Trench  descended  the  lake  and  took  military  posses- 
sion of  Ticonderoga,  which  they  proceeded  to  fortify. 
Putnam's  company  were  disbanded  with  the  other 
colonial  regiments,  and  he  returned  home  to  pass  the 
winter  in  the  quiet  retirement  of  his  farm  in  Connec- 
ticut. 

The  next  year's  campaign  had  the  same  objects  in 
view  with  that  of  the  last.  Owing,  however,  to  the 
victories  that  had  been  achieved  by  the  French  com- 
mander, Montcalm,*  at  Fort  Ontario  and  Fort  Os- 
wego,  the  plans  of  the  campaign  were  altogether  dis- 
arranged. An  expedition  was  set  on  foot  against 
Crown  Point,  which  was  to  be  conducted  by  Gen. 
iWinslow,  with  provincial  troops  alone ;  but  the  unex- 


*  Montcalm  collected  a  force  of  5,000  Canadians,  French- 
men, and  Indians  at  Frontenac  (now  Kingston),  at  the  foot 
of  Lake  Ontario,  crossed  the  lake  to  Oswego,  and,  Aug.  11, 
1756,  attacked  and  soon  captured  Fort  Ontario,  on  the 
east  side  of  the  river.  On  the  14th  he  captured  Oswego 
with  1,400  prisoners,  besides  large  quantities  of  arms,  am- 
munition, provisions  and  other  stores,  and  the  vessels  lying 
in  the  harbor. 

The  Marquis  of  Montcalm  (1712-1759),  was  well  edu- 
cated and  rose  to  distinction  in  the  army  in  France.  In 
1756  he  succeeded  Baron  von  Dieskau  as  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  French  army  in  America.  His  military  opera- 
tions, though  ultimately  unsuccessful,  always  displayed 
skill,  courage,  and  humanity.  He  was  mortally  wounded 
in  the  storming  of  Quebec  in  1759.  When  told  that  he  must 
soon  die,  he  quietly  said:  "  So  much  the  better;  I  shall  not 
live  to  see  the  surrender  of  Quebec." 


4:0  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

pected  success  of  Montcalm  had  the  effect  to  throw 
the  English  altogether  on  the  defensive.  Putnam 
was  still  at  the  head  of  a  company,  serving  under  his 
former  commander.  Abercrombie  commanded  the 
entire  forces  until  past  the  middle  of  the  summer; 
in  August  he  was  displaced  by  Lord  Loudon.*  The 
English  generals  were  in  constant  expectation  of  be- 
ing attack  by  the  French,  and  therefore  assumed 
an  attitude  almost  exclusively  defensive. 

Putnam,  in  this  campaign,  acted  the  bold  part  of  a 

*John  Campbell  (1705-1782),  was  the  fourth  Earl  of 
Loudon.  Though  he  rose  to  considerable  distinction  in 
England,  his  name  is  recalled  by  Americans  with  feelings 
of  aversion.  In  1756  he  was  appointed  Governor  of  Vir- 
ginia and  commander-in-chief  of  the  British  forces  in  Amer- 
ica. He  transferred  to  Dinwiddie  the  actual  government 
of  the  colony,  while  he  himself  went  direct  from  New  York, 
where  he  landed,  to  Albany  to  assume  control  of  military 
affairs.  His  attempt  at  the  capture  of  the  fort  of  Louis- 
bourg  resulted  in  an  amazing  fiasco.  Setting  out  with  a 
large  fleet,  he  landed  10,000  soldiers  at  Halifax,  and  for  a 
month  practiced  gardening  and  played  at  war  by  sham 
fights,  etc.  The  troops  had  by  that  time  become  dispirited 
and  Loudon  was  superseded  by  General  Amherst,  who  cap- 
tured the  fort.  Loudon  was  taken  to  England,  tried  by 
court-martial,  and  acquitted.  He  was  made  lieutenant-gen- 
eral in  1758,  and  general  in  1770.  His  most  salient  charac- 
teristic was  his  haughtiness,  imperiously  disregarding  the 
privileges  and  rights  both  of  citizens  and  of  his  subordi- 
nates. He  was  characterized  by  indolence,  indecision,  and 
general  inefficiency.  Franklin  wittily  said  of  him  that  he 
was  "  like  King  George  upon  the  sign  posts,  always  on 
horse-back  but  never  advancing." 


THE  FRENCH  WAR.  41 

ranger.  This  duty  required  a  person  of  peculiar 
qualifications,  and  such  had  he  in  perfection.  He 
was  daring,  and  even  reckless,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
he  knew  how  to  be  cautious  and  wary  as  an  Indian. 
His  active  and  ardent  temperament  fitted  him  above 
most  other  men  for  so  responsible  and  arduous  a  ser- 
vice. He  excelled  in  two  important  qualities, — cour- 
age and  caution.  He  could  be  bold,  and  he  also  knew 
how  to  keep  silence.  United  with  his  other  rare  qual- 
ities was  an  instinctive  sagacity,  which  piloted  him- 
self and  his  little  party  many  a  time  safely  through 
dangers  with  which  other  men,  perhaps  fully  as 
brave,  would  have  been  overwhelmed.  •  Indeed,  con- 
sidering the  history  of  Israel  Putnam's  military  ex- 
ploits from  first  to  last,  it  must  be  said  of  him,  in 
summing  up  the  whole,  that  he  excelled  chiefly  as  a 
military  partisan — in  scouting  expeditions,  forays,  or 
guerilla  warfare.  ~No  man  in  the  army  was  more 
impetuous  yet  more  cool,  more  daring  and  reckless 
and  still  more  self-controlled,  than  he.  And  it  was 
this  which  made  his  services  so  brilliant  and  so  valu- 
able during  the  protracted  terms  of  both  the  French 
and  Indian,  and  the  Revolutionary  War. 

Once,  during  this  campaign  of  1756,  he  was  di- 
rected to  take  some  observations,  and  report  concern- 
ing the  camp  of  the  enemy  at  the  "  Ovens."  This  was 
but  a  little  way  from  Ticonderoga.  Taking  along 


42  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

•with  him  Lieut.  Durkee,*  he  started  off  on  his  per- 
ilous but  most  welcome  errand.  Nothing  suited  him 
better  than  excitement  and  danger.  The  business  was 
to  be  performed  in  the  night,  and  required  therefore 
all  the  more  caution.  The  French  army,  when  they 
lay  down  at  night  to  sleep  in  the  forest,  kindled  their 
fires  in  the  centre  of  the  camp  and  slept  on  the  out- 
side of  the  circle,  quite  within  the  protection  af- 
forded by  the  darkness.  The  custom  of  the  English 
and  provincial  army  was  just  the  contrary.  Putnam 
and  his  friend  did  not  happen  to  be  aware  of  this 
fact.  Hence,  they  made  their  way  up  thoughtlessly 
toward  the  fires  of  the  French,  on  their  hands  and 
knees  of  course,  and  had  gone  some  distance  within 
the  enemy's  lines  before  they  became  aware  of  their 
desperate  situation.  They  were  discovered  by  the 
sentinels,  who  at  once  fired  upon  them.  His  friend 
was  wounded  in  the  thigh,  but  Putnam  was  unhurt. 
The  latter  wheeled  and  rushed  into  the  darkness 
again ;  but  suddenly  he  found  himself  lying  all  in  a 
heap  at  the  bottom  of  a  clay  pit.  Hardly  had  he 
come  to  himself  sufficiently  to  understand  where  he 
was,  when  in  plunged  another  person  after  him. 
Putnam  raised  the  butt  of  his  musket  to  break  his 
head,  when  a  voice  asked  him  if  he  was  hurt  He 

*  Lieutenant  Durkee  was  burned  at  the  stake  by  the 
Seneca  Indians  at  the  massacre  of  Wyoming,  July  4,  1778. 


THE  FRENCH  WAR.  43 

recognized  the  voice  as  that  of  his  friend,  Lieut. 
Durkee.  In  the  greatest  haste — quite  as  great,  if 
possible,  as  they  had  found  their  way  into  the  pit — 
they  both  scrambled  out,  and  made  off  into  the  forest 
in  the  midst  of  a  rain  of  ineffective  bullets  from  the 
enemy. 

They  lay  under  a  large  log  during  the  rest  of  the 
night,  and  found  the  light  of  the  silent  stars  much 
more  agreeable  company  than  they  probably  would 
have  found  that  of  the  hostile  camp-fires.  It  is  re- 
lated that  when  Putnam  unslung  his  canteen,  to  di- 
vide the  rum  it  held  with  his  wounded  and  fainting 
comrade,  he  found  to  his  surprise  that  a  stray  bullet 
from  the  sentinel  had  pierced,  and  entirely  emptied 
it  of  its  contents.* 

The  provincial  camp  was  much  troubled  by  the 
prowling  incursions  of  the  Indians,  who  used  to 
come  about  in  the  stillness  of  the  night  and  carry  off 
the  sentinels,  no  one  could  tell  how  or  whither.  It 
was  one  of  the  greatest  mysteries  that  excited  their 
curiosity,  or  their  superstitious  fears.  One  of  the 
outposts  had  suffered  more  than  any  of  the  others. 
At  last  it  became  so  hazardous  to  serve  as  guard, — 
no  soul  of  those  who  were  missing  ever  coming  back, 
or  sending  back  any  tidings  of  his  fate, — that  not  a 

*  It  is  also  related  that  Putnam  found  fourteen  bullet- 
holes  through  his  blanket. 


44  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

man  could  be  found  who  was  willing  to  put  his  life 
in  peril  in  occupying  it.  All  were  appealed  to,  but 
in  vain.  They  were  not  ready  to  volunteer  in  a  ser- 
vice where  they  felt  certain  there  was  not  even  a 
chance  in  their  favor.  Some  of  the  best  and  bravest 
men  had  volunteered  on  that  post,  and  never  been 
heard  of  again. 

It  had  come  to  such  a  pass  at  length,  that  the  com- 
manders were  about  to  proceed  to  draw  men  by  lot 
for  the  place,  when  Putnam  stepped  forth  with  his 
usual  promptitude,  eager  to  brave  the  danger,  and 
pluck  out  the  heart  of  the  mystery.  He  need  not 
have  done  this,  for,  as  an  officer,  he  would  not  have 
been  liable  to  be  drawn  with  the  rest ;  but  he  suffered 
that  consideration  to  make  no  difference.  He  of- 
fered to  garrison  the  post  for  that  night  himself,  and 
his  offer  was  accepted.  The  directions  were,  at  hear- 
ing the  least  noise,  he  was  to  ask,  "  Who  goes  there  ?  " 
three  times ;  and,  if  no  answer  was  returned,  then  to 
fire  immediately.  With  these  instructions  fresh  in 
his  mind,  he  went  out  and  took  his  station.  In  the 
first  place,  he  made  a  thorough  and  most  minute  ex- 
amination of  every  object  within  sight  and  reach. 
He  laid  down  in  his  mind  exactly  how  trees,  rocks, 
bushes,  and  stumps  stood  relatively  to  each  other,  and 
photographed  their  appearance  in  his  memory.  Then, 


THE  FRENCH  WAR.  45 

seeing,  that  his  firearm  was  in  perfect  order,  he 
waited  and  watched  for  the  terrible  mystery. 

There  was  a  moon  in  the  sky  that  night,  by  whose 
pale  light  even  those  objects  with  which  he  had  al- 
ready become  familiar,  looked  weird  and  spectral. 
For  several  hours  nothing  occurred  that  attracted  his 
attention.  Midnight  wore  on,  but  no  manifestations 
of  any  lurking  danger  yet.  By  and  by,  however,  he 
thought  he  heard  a  slight  noise  in  the  wild  grass.  He 
gave  it  all  his  attention.  Then,  what  sounded  like  a 
wild  animal,  came  straying  along,  gradually  nearing 
his  position.  Finally  the  animal  seemed  to  take  the 
appearance  and  nature  of  a  wild  hog;  and,  to  carry 
out  the  resemblance,  it  busied  itself  with  cracking 
the  acorns  it  grubbed  up  underneath  the  trees.  Put- 
nam saw  it  all,  and  heard  it  all.  His  thought  was  al- 
ways quick,  and  rarely  did  it  lead  him  far  astray. 
Even  a  hog  should  not  be  permitted  to  pass  the  lines, 
he  declared  to  himself,  unless  he  gave  the  counter- 
sign. Accordingly,  he  raised  his  musket  to  his 
shoulder,  and  called  out,  "  Who  goes  there  ?  "  three 
times,  and  fired.  The  hog  gave  a  deep  groan,  straight- 
ened out  in  the  agonies  of  death,  and  instantly  lay  a 
lifeless  heap  on  the  ground.  On  going  up  to  ex- 
amine it,  he  discovered  that  he  had  only  shot  a  treach- 
erous and  wily  Indian,  who  had  disguised  himself  in 
a  bear-skin,  and  thus  picked  off  the  unsuspecting  sen- 


46  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

tinels  from  this  dangerous  post  night  after  night. 
There  was  no  longer  any  fear  among  the  soldiers  of 
standing  sentry  on  that  post.  The  heart  of  the  mys- 
tery had  been  laid  open,  and  this  was  what  there  was 
in  it. 

Putnam  was  likewise  the  leader  and  master-spirit 
of  another  excursion  against  the  enemy  that  season, 
which  added  much  to  the  increasing  lustre  of  his 
fame.  It  appears  that  some  five  or  six  hundred  of  the 
French  had  made  a  descent  on  the  stores  and  baggage 
of  the  English  army,  at  a  place  about  half  way  be- 
tween Fort  Edward  and  Fort  William  Henry,  and 
carried  off  a  large  quantity  of  provisions  as  booty. 
The  soldiers  who  were  escorting  the  train  were  not 
numerous  enough  to  protect  it  against  the  vastly 
greater  force  of  the  assailants,  and  were  obliged  to 
yield  it  up  altogether.  Putnam  was  ordered,  with 
about  a  hundred  men  in  boats,  carrying  with  them 
two  small  pieces  of  cannon,  besides  their  ordinary 
arms,  to  head  them  off  on  their  return  down  Wood 
Creek  into  Lake  Champlain.  They  all  started  off  in 
high  spirits,  and  sailed  down  Lake  George  in  their 
batteaux,  with  the  resolution  to  punish  the  insolence 
of  the  enemy  wherever  they  might  fall  in  with  him. 

They  landed  at  a  certain  point  far  enough  down 
the  lake,  and  there  disembarked,  leaving  their  boats 
under  a  sufficient  guard,  and  marched  rapidly  across 


THE  FRENCH  WAR.  47 

to  the  narrows  of  Lake  Champlain,  where  they  took 
their  stand  and  waited  for  the  thieving  rascals  to 
come  up.  The  place  in  which  Putnam  concealed  the 
men  was  admirably  selected,  and  so  hidden  by  the 
trees  and  bushes  that  no  one  sailing  down  the  lake 
would  look  for  danger  from  such  a  quarter.  The 
body  of  the  water  at  that  point,  also,  was  not  so  wide 
but  his  guns  could  sweep  it  for  the  whole  distance. 
:As  the  French  came  sailing  by,  the  party  in  ambush 
suddenly  poured  in  upon  them  a  terrible  volley  of 
shot,  which  performed  most  remarkable  execution. 
The  rowers  were  killed,  the  boats  were  sunk,  and  they 
were  so  huddled  together  in  the  confusion  that  they 
afforded  a  surer  mark  for  the  fire  of  the  provincials. 
Only  a  few  of  the  boats  managed  to  escape,  and  these 
with  the  aid  of  the  wind  that  blew  up  the  lake  very 
strongly.  By  this  means  the  encampment  at  Ticon- 
deroga  were  advised  of  the  mortifying  mishap  to 
the  expedition,  and  hastened  to  wreak  their  ven- 
geance upon  its  authors  before  they  could  return  to 
headquarters. 

It  was  in  the  expectation  of  something  like  this 
that  the  rangers  betook  themselves  back  to  their  boats 
with  all  possible  speed,  knowing  that  their  condition 
was  a  desperate,  if  not  an  utterly  hopeless  one,  should 
they  be  intercepted  before  they  reached  the  water. 
They  had  some  twenty  miles  to  make,  in  order  to  do 


48  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

this ;  but  they  were  successful.  The  French  hurried 
after  them  by  way  of  the  lake  above,  and,  of  course, 
must  have  made  much  headway  even  before  the 
rangers  embarked  again,  which  was  at  night.  The 
very  next  day  they  saw  their  enemy  on  shore  in  large 
numbers.  They  must  have  silently  passed  them 
somewhere  during  the  night.  It  of  course  was  not 
long  before  the  French  spied  them  coming,  and  took 
to  their  boats  with  great  speed,  determined  to  fight 
them  in  line  on  the  lake. 

The  French  appeared  extremely  exultant,  as  if  the 
battle  had  been  fought  and  the  victory  had  been  al- 
ready won.  Up  they  sailed  in  regular  array,  sup- 
posing that  the  provincials,  who  could  not  have  num- 
bered more  than  one  to  their  three,  would  be  so 
stricken  with  terror  at  their  approach  that  they  would 
decline  fighting  altogether.  ISTot  until  they  came 
within  shot  of  them,  did  the  small  party  of  brave  fel- 
lows under  Putnam  open  fire;  and  then  they  gave 
them,  all  at  once,  the  full  contents  both  of  their  can- 
non and  their  muskets.  This  reception  dismayed  the 
French.  They  had  counted  on  nothing  of  the  kind. 
They  supposed  they  had  been  sailing  up  to  an  easy, 
and  perhaps  a  bloodless,  victory.  Continuing  thus  to 
pour  in  volley  after  volley,  and  not  allowing  the 
enemy  to  recover  themselves  sufficiently  to  rally  for 
one  strong  effort,  the  provincials  very  soon  succeeded 


THE  FRENCH  WAE.  49 

in  scattering  the  flotilla  of  French  boats,  and  driv- 
ing them  off  the  field  of  battle. 

The  provincials  were  the  victors.  The  French  lost 
a  great  number  of  their  men,  and  the  Indians  fell 
into  the  lake  in  scores.  What  is  very  strange,  there 
was  but  one  man  out  of  the  provincial  force  killed  in 
this  sharp  engagement,  and  but  two  were  wounded, 
and  they  only  slightly,  while  the  loss  of  the  French, 
including  their  previous  loss  on  Lake  Champlain,  on 
their  return  from  the  foraging  excursion,  amounted 
to  hardly  less  than  five  hundred.  The  French  learned 
a  pretty  dear  lesson  by  it  all ;  and,  certainly,  if  noth- 
ing else  were  to  be  said  about  it,  they  paid  at  a  costly 
rate  for  the  provisions  they  were  guilty  of  stealing 
from  the  escort  at  Half  Way  Brook. 


CHAPTER 


:*  OF  THE  FKEXCH  TVAB. 


HAD  Israel  Putnam  kept  a  record  of  his  varied  and 
most  exciting  experience  from  the  time  his  life  began 
to  be  of  public  interest,  it  would  have  secured  an  at- 
tentive perusal  to  the  latest  generations.  But  he  was 
doing  greater  things  than  he  knew,  like  many  others 
who  are  noble  and  heroic  themselves  without  being 
aware  of  it.  The  next  year,  1757,  he  received  a 
major's  commission  from  the  Connecticut  Legisla- 
ture; showing  in  what  deservedly  high  esteem  he  was 
held  by  those  with  whom  the  public  interests  were 
left  to  be  administered. 

Thus  far,  it  certainly  could  not  be  denied  that  the 
English  arms  had  met  with  but  indifferent  success  in 
the  war  then  waging  with  the  Erench.  This  was  in  no 
sense  to  be  charged  to  the  want  of  efficiency  or  cour- 
age on  the  part  of  the  colonists,  in  cooperating  with 
them  in  their  plans;  the  fault  lay  elsewhere.  The 
officers  who  were  appointed  to  direct  the  operations 
of  the  army  were  not  the  men  they  should  have  been  ; 
they  knew  little  or  nothing  of  the  country,  being  sent 

50 


CONTINUATION  OF  THE  FRENCH  WAR.         51 

over  from  England  solely  for  the  purpose  of  super- 
vising what  they  knew  little  about.  They  could  not 
be  expected,  either,  to  feel  that  close  sympathy  with 
the  condition  and  prospects  of  the  colonists  which 
was  so  essential  to  the  success  of  their  warlike  plans ; 
and,  by  their  very  rank  and  station,  they  were  alien 
to  the  habits,  and  strangers  to  the  feelings  that  made 
up  the  sturdy  colonial  character. 

Lord  Loudon  *  was  an  inefficient  and  improper  of- 
ficer to  set  at  the  head  of  an  army  anywhere.  It  is 
not  pretended  that  he  possessed  any  degree  of  courage, 
much  less  that  he  was  gifted  with  that  military  gen- 
ius which  is  certainly  to  be  looked  for  in  a  commander 
who  undertakes  the  responsibilities  of  such  extended 
campaigns.  Montcalm,  the  French  General,  had  put 
him  to  his  wits'  end  in  achieving  such  few,  but  very 
significant  successes  as  he  had  at  Oswego,  destroying 
and  dismantling  the  fort  at  that  place;  and  Loudon 
therefore  resolved  to  stand  only  on  the  defensive. 
This  was  the  whole  secret  of  his  no-policy  of  the  sum- 
mer previous,  after  his  appointment  by  the  ministry 
at  home  to  supersede  General  Abercrombie.  During 
the  winter,  however,  he  had  made  liberal  drafts  on 
the  several  Legislatures  of  the  colonies,  to  which  they 
responded  with  great  promptness.  Early  in  the  year 
1757,  too,  fresh  and  abundant  forces  arrived  from 
*  See  above,  p.  40,  note. 


52  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

England ;  so  that  the  belief  was  general  that  the  cam- 
paign of  this  year  was  to  be  carried  forward  with 
signal  energy  and  enthusiasm. 

Had  the  matter  lain  with  the  colonies,  the  plans 
of  the  previous  campaigns  would  certainly  have  been 
pushed  on  to  completion  and  success.  And  the  for- 
tress from  which  the  various  assaults  against  the 
peace  of  the  provincialists  were  fitted  out,  would  have 
been  assailed  in  turn  with  all  imaginable  vigor. 
In  other  words,  the  war  would  have  been  car- 
ried by  the  colonists  into  Canada.  But  not 
BO  thought  Lord  Loudon.  With  every  means  with 
which  to  secure  a  brilliant  series  of  conclusive  vic- 
tories ready  at  his  hand,  he  foolishly  projected  an 
excursion  against  the  distant  French  fortress  at 
Louisbourg,  on  the  island  of  Cape  Breton,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  rallying  point  for 
the  French  on  this  continent.  Here  he  thought  to 
strike  a  decisive  blow  which  would  bring  him  sudden 
fame  for  future  enjoyment  at  home.  In  order  to 
achieve  this  contemplated  success,  it  was  first  neces- 
sary for  him  to  concentrate  his  troops  at  Halifax.  It 
was  far  into  the  summer  when  he  reached  that  point, 
and  then  it  was  only  to  learn  that  a  large  fleet  of 
French  vessels  had  just  before  arrived  at  Louis- 
bourg,* which  was  now  abundantly  able  to  protect  the 

•Louisbourg  was  in  the  island  of  Cape  Breton,  at  the 


CONTINUATION  OF  THE  FRENCH  WAR.         53 

fortification  there  from,  assault.  So  Loudon  gave  over 
his  purpose  altogether.  He  did  not  even  make  an 
effort  to  secure  the  victory  of  which  he  was,  only  a 
little  time  before,  so  sanguine  and  certain.  He  left 
his  ships  to  watch  the  further  movements  of  the 
French,  and  hastened  back  himself  to  New  York. 
'And  thus  nothing  was  accomplished  by  him  during 
that  year. 

But  Montcalm  understood  the  situation  of  affairs 
exactly.  He  knew  that  Louisbourg  could  now  take 
care  of  itself,  and  he  also  knew  that  the  provincial 
and  English  force  on  the  Canada  lines  must  be  much 
weakened  by  this  ill-timed  movement  of  Loudon.  So 
he  resolved  to  improve  the  advantage  offered  by  these 
circumstances,  and  to  push  down  Lake  George  and 
take  possession  of  Fort  William  Henry.  It  was  a 
bold  undertaking,  and  yet  it  appeared  a  very  feasible 
one.  This  fort  was  but  a  poor  affair  at  best.  It  stood 
on  a  piece  of  ground  gently  rising  from  the  shore  of 
the  lake,  and  had  for  a  garrison  about  three  thou- 
sand men.  At  Fort  Edward,  which  was  the  lower 
fort,  Gen.  Webb  commanded ;  and  the  force  under 
him  was  even  larger  than  that  at  Fort  William 

eastern  extremity  of  Nova  Scotia.  Its  importance  lay  in 
the  fact  that  it  was  the  harbor  for  the  French  privateers 
and  other  vessels  of  war,  which  issued  from  thence  for 
sudden  and  destructive  attacks  upon  English  shipping  and 
immediately  returned  to  perfect  safety. 


54  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

Henry.  Montcalm  had  an  army  of  nine  thousand 
men,  including  both  French  and  Indians.  During 
the  month  of  March  previous,  he  had  ventured  upon 
an  attempt  to  take  Fort  William  Henry;  but  it 
proved  unsuccessful.  He  landed  near  that  fortifica- 
tion on  St.  Patrick's  eve ;  and  a  large  portion  of  the 
British  Rangers  being  Irishmen,  he  had  not  miscal- 
culated in  supposing  that,  inasmuch  as  they  would 
probably  celebrate  that  well-known  festival,  they 
would  become  more  or  less  intoxicated;  and  of  this 
circumstance  he  intended  to  take  advantage.  Lieut. 
Stark  happened  to  be  in  command  at  the  Fort  at  that 
time,  and  accidentally  overheard  some  of  the  Rangers 
planning  on  the  evening  previous  for  their  celebration 
of  the  next  day.  As  an  excuse  for  not  furnishing 
them  with  liquor,  he  feigned  lameness  in  his  wrist, 
which  prevented  him  from  writing;  so  that  when  the 
army  sutler  was  applied  to  for  the  liquor,  he  replied 
that  he  had  received  orders  not  to  deal  out  any  with- 
out a  written  order.  Stark's  lame  hand  was  excuse 
enough  for  his  not  writing  such  orders,  and  of  course 
no  spirits  were  dealt  out  to  the  Rangers  at  all.  The 
regular  troops  who  celebrated  the  occasion  were  af- 
fected with  the  liquor  they  drank,  and  when  the  at- 
tack was  made, — as  it  was,  on  St.  Patrick's  day, — 
the  successful  defence  of  the  Fort  was  made  entirely 
by  the  sober  Rangers. 


CONTINUATION  OF  THE  FRENCH  WAR.          55 

Montcalm  had  collected  his  forces,  as  just  men- 
tioned, to  the  amount  of  nine  thousand  men,  French 
and  Indians.  It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  July  al- 
ready. General  Webb  had  just  proceeded  to  Fort 
William  Henry,  with  an  escort  of  two  hundred  men, 
taking  their  commander,  Major  Putnam,  along  with 
him.  While  he  remained  at  the  Fort,  he  thought 
proper  to  send  Putnam  down  the  lake  with  a  small 
force  of  but  eighteen  men,  to  discover  where  the 
enemy  were,  and  in  what  numbers.  They  found 
the  islands  at  the  entrance  of  !N"orth-west  Bay  alive 
with  them.  Leaving  two  out  of  the  five  boats  behind, 
that  they  might  appear,  if  detected,  to  be  innocently 
engaged  in  fishing,  Putnam  hurried  back  with  all 
possible  despatch  to  inform  Gen.  Webb  of  his  as- 
tounding discovery.  He  of  course  then  pToposed  to 
return  to  the  rescue  of  his  comrades,  whom  he  had 
left  behind ;  but  Webb  peremptorily  refused  him  per- 
mission. By  pleading  and  begging,  however,  he  was 
allowed  to  return,  and  all  the  boats  at  last  found 
their  way  back  in  safety,  although  they  were  hotly 
pursued,  and  at  one  time  nearly  surrounded  by  the 
enemy. 

What  does  this  cowardly  general  then  do,  but  com- 
pel Putnam  to  pledge  his  eighteen  men,  by  a  solemn 
oath,  to  keep  their  knowledge  of  the  enemy's  approach 
a  secret  from  the  garrison  at  Fort  William  Henry, 


56  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

and  then  order  him  to  escort  him  with  his  command 
back  to  Fort  Edward.  Putnam  protested,  even  to  a 
greater  extent  than  most  young  officers  would  dare  to 
protest  against  the  orders  of  their  superiors;  but  it 
was  all  in  vain.*  Webb  was  escorted  back  in  safety 
to  his  distant  quarters  at  Fort  Edward,  cruelly  leav- 
ing the  garrison  at  Fort  William  Henry  ignorant  of 
their  danger.  But  the  next  day  he  had  thought 
enough  better  of  it  to  send  back  Colonel  Monroe,  with 
his  regiment,  ordering  him  to  assume  the  entire  com- 
mand. 

When  Montcalm  therefore  made  his  appearance 
before  the  fort,  he  had  three  men  to  the  garrison's 
one.  First  he  sent  to  Col.  Monroe  a  summons  to  sur- 
render the  place,  and  humanely  urged  as  a  reason 
the  enormous  bloodshed  and  cruel  destruction  of  life 
that  would  thus  be  averted.  But  as  the  latter  had 
good  reasons  to  continually  expect  reinforcements 
from  General  Webb  at  Fort  Edward  below,  he  re- 
fused to  consider  such  a  demand  at  all.  From  that 
time  the  siege  regularly  commenced,  and  continued 
for  six  days.  Word  was  sent  to  Webb  by  expresses 

*  Putnam,  in  his  eagerness,  had  the  audacity  to  say  to 
his  superior  officer:  "  I  hope  your  Excellency  does  not  in- 
tend to  neglect  so  fair  an  opportunity  of  giving  battle, 
should  the  enemy  presume  to  land?  "  The  only  reply  vouch- 
safed by  the  imperious  Webb  was  the  scornful  query: 
"  What  do  you  think  we  should  do  here?  " 


CONTINUATION  OF  THE  FRENCH  WAR.         57 

during  this  time,  laying  before  him  their  precarious 
situation,  and  imploring  immediate  succor;  but  it 
was  a  supplication  to  ears  that  were  deaf.  The  man 
was  either  an  arrant  coward  or  else  grossly  infatu- 
ated. He  did  seem  to  relent,  however,  after  a  time, 
and  changed  his  purpose  so  far  as  to  send  up  Gen. 
Johnson,  together  with  Major  Putnam  and  his 
Rangers ;  but  they  had  gone  on  but  about  three  miles 
when  he  despatched  an  order  after  them,  calling  them 
back  immediately.  By  the  same  messenger  who  was 
the  bearer  of  this  cowardly  order,  he  sent  a  letter  to 
Colonel  Monroe,  at  Fort  William  Henry,  informing 
him  that  he  could  render  him  no  assistance,  and  ad- 
vising him  to  surrender  at  once.  The  messenger  was 
intercepted,  and  Montcalm  got  possession  of  the  let- 
ter and  instantly  knew  how  the  case  stood.  He  had 
just  before  heard  from  his  Indian  scouts  that  the 
force  that  was  marching  up  under  Johnson  and  Put- 
nam, were,  in  the  language  of  the  red  men,  as  great 
in  numbers  as  the  leaves  on  the  trees;  and  he  had 
made  up  his  mind  to  beat  a  retreat  as  early  as  he 
could  in  consequence.  But  this  intercepted  letter 
put  a  new  face  on  the  matter.  He  sent  it  in  to  Col. 
Monroe  at  once,  therefore,  with  a  new  and  more  ur- 
gent demand  for  him  to  surrender. 

No  other  way,  of  course,  was  left  him.     The  siege 
had  already  nearly  consumed  their  provisions,  while 


58  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

their  ammunition  was  almost  entirely  exhausted. 
Articles  of  stipulation  \vere  drawn  up  between  the 
two  commanders,  and  Montcalm  promised  that  the 
provincial  army  should  he  protected  on  their  march 
down  to  Fort  Edward  by  an  escort  of  French  troops. 
They  were  to  march  out  with  their  arms  and  their 
baggage.  They  should  not  again  serve  against  the 
French  for  eighteen  months;  and  the  sick  and 
wounded  were  to  be  cared  for  by  Montcalm,  until 
such  time  as  they  should  sufficiently  recover  to  be 
safely  escorted  to  Fort  Edward. 

The  moment  the  last  lines  of  the  army  had  passed 
the  gates  of  the  fort,  the  Indians,  numbering  some 
two  thousand  in  all,  set  up  their  hideous  war-cry, 
shrill  and  fearful  in  the  ears  of  the  terror-stricken 
provincials,  and  fell  upon  them  with  all  the  strength 
and  fury  of  their  long-pent  passion.  They  were,  no 
doubt,  expecting  a  large  amount  of  plunder  from  this 
expedition  against  Fort  William  Henry,  and  when 
they  saw  their  enemy  thus  about  to  escape  them,  they 
were  able  no  longer  to  control  their  savage  indigna- 
tion ;  neither  could  Montcalm  hold  them  in  check,  as 
he  had  already  hinted  in  his  first  summons  to  the 
garrison  to  surrender.  The  French  were  powerless  to 
afford  them  the  least  protection,  even  if  they  made 
the  attempt.  Such  an  indiscriminate  and  merciless 
massacre  as  on  that  bloody  day  was  enacted  on  the 


CONTINUATION  OF  THE  FRENCH  WAR.         59 

borders  of  beautiful  Lake  George,  is  scarcely 
matched,  certainly  not  exceeded,  by  any  similar  trans- 
action recorded  in  history.  Those  who  fled  were  pur- 
sued by  the  savages  for  more  than  half  the  way  to 
Fort  Edward,  who  filled  the  forest  with  the  wild 
echoes  of  their  hideous  war-whoop.  Fifteen  hundred 
of  this  devoted  little  army  were  butchered  on  the  spot 
where  protection  had  been  solemnly  promised  them. 
The  remnant,  which  did  not  finally  reach  Fort  Ed- 
ward, were  dragged  away  into  captivity,  to  suffer  and 
at  last  to  die.  The  defile  through  which  they  re- 
treated from  the  fort,  is  called  Bloody  Defile  to  this 
day.  Only  a  few  years  ago,  on  making  excavations 
for  a  plank  road  there,  a  large  number  of  human 
skeletons  were  thrown  up  to  the  surface.  Several 
skulls  had  long  fractures  in  them,  as  if  made  by  toma- 
hawks. 

Webb  was  greatly  alarmed  on  hearing  what  had 
been  done,  as  well  he  might  be.  He  therefore  sent 
forward  Major  Putnam,  with  his  command,  to  re- 
connoitre, and  report  if  the  enemy  were  about  to 
march  down  next  upon  Fort  Edward.  And  there  is 
little  doubt  that,  in  case  they  had  done  so,  he  would 
have  fled  from  the  place  with  cowardly  precipitancy, 
leaving  such  of  his  men  as  would  not  accompany  him 
to  take  the  best  care  they  could  of  themselves.  Put- 
nam reached  the  fort  only  to  find  it  a  mass  of  ruins. 


60  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

The  French,  having  finished  their  diabolical  work, 
were  just  getting  into  their  boats  to  return  up  the 
lake.  Putnam  describes  the  scene  that  met  his  gaze, 
as  he  came  up,  in  the  following  words :  "  The  fort 
was  entirely  demolished;  the  barracks,  out-houses, 
and  buildings,  were  a  heap  of  ruins ;  the  cannon, 
stores,  boats,  and  vessels  were  all  carried  away.  The 
fires  were  still  burning;  the  smoke  and  stench  of- 
fensive and  suffocating.  Innumerable  fragments, 
human  skulls  and  bones,  and  carcasses  half  con- 
sumed, were  still  frying  and  broiling  in  the  decaying 
fires.  Dead  bodies,  mangled  with  knives  and  toma- 
hawks, in  all  the  wantonness  of  Indian  fierceness  and 
barbarity,  were  everywhere  to  be  seen.  More  than 
one  hundred  women,  butchered  and  shockingly  man- 
gled, lay  upon  the  ground,  still  weltering  in  their 
gore.  Devastation,  barbarity,  and  horror  everywhere 
appeared,  and  the  spectacle  presented  was  too  dia- 
bolical and  awful  either  to  be  endured  or  described." 

Fort  William  Henry  was  never  rebuilt.  Fort 
George  was  built  upon  a  point  about  a  mile  to  the 
south-east  of  it,  at  which  the  English  army  ren- 
dezvoused the  next  year,  just  before  their  brilliant, 
but  most  unfortunate  expedition  against  the  French 
on  Lake  Champlain. 

Later  the  same  year,  General  Lyman,  the  old  com- 
mander under  whom  Putnam  first  served  in  this  war, 


CONTINUATION  OF  THE  FRENCH  WAR.          61 

was  in  authority  at  Fort  Edward,  and  began  to  make 
his  position  as  secure  and  strong  as  circumstances 
would  allow.  One  day  he  despatched  a  party  of 
more  than  a  hundred  men  into  the  forest  to  cut  tim- 
ber, and  a  guard  of  fifty  regular  troops  was  sent 
out  to  protect  them  against  any  sudden  surprises. 
There  was  a  narrow  road  leading  to  the  fort,  at  the 
extremity  of  which  the  soldiers  were  posted.  One 
side  of  this  road  was  bounded  by  a  morass,  and  the 
other  by  a  creek.  Early  one  morning,  before  the  sun, 
in  fact,  was  fairly  up  in  the  east,  one  of  the  sentinels 
thought  he  saw  a  flock  of  birds  flying  over;  and,  on 
looking  carefully,  he  discovered  that  one  of  these 
feathered  creatures  lodged  in  the  top  of  a  tree  above 
his  head,  and  took  the  form  of  an  Indian  arrow.  He 
gave  the  alarm,  and  it  was  found  that  a  party  of 
savages  had  crept  into  the  morass  during  the  night, 
who,  as  soon  as  the  alarm  was  sounded,  rushed  out 
from  their  hiding  place  and  murdered  those  of  the 
laborers  who  were  nearest  at  hand,  driving  the  rest 
into  the  fort,  which  was  some  hundred  rods  off.  The 
regulars  came  to  the  rescue  in  an  instant,  and  drove 
back  the  Indians  by  a  volley  of  musketry,  so  that  the 
rest  of  the  laborers  were  at  last  enabled  to  reach 
the  fort  in  safety. 

Gen.  Lyman  is  supposed   to  have   misinterpreted 
the  state  of  things,  having  been  so  thoroughly  sur- 


62  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

prised,  and  therefore  called  in  all  his  outposts  and 
shut  the  gates  of  the  fort.  He  supposed  that  a  gen- 
eral attack  against  the  fort  from  all  points  was  in- 
tended, and  felt  the  stern  necessity  upon  him,  for 
the  moment,  of  leaving  the  little  company  of  fifty 
regulars  under  Capt.  Little  to  take  care  of  them- 
selves. It  was  a  cruel  mistake,  though  Gen.  Lyman 
was  never  charged  with  cowardice  in  making  it.  Put- 
nam happened  to  be  placed  on  guard  at  the  time,  with 
a  body  of  rangers  at  one  of  the  outposts,  which  was 
on  a  small  island  situated  not  far  from  the  fort.  The 
moment  he  heard  the  sound  of  the  firing  in  the  di- 
rection of  Capt.  Little's  company,  he  sprang  with 
his  usual  impulsiveness  into  the  water,  and  bade  his 
men  follow  him.  As  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  pass 
the  fort  on  his  way,  Gen.  Lyman  leaped  to  the  para- 
pet as  he  came  on,  and  ordered  him  to  stop  where  he 
was.  He  said  it  was  needless  to  risk  the  lives  of  any 
more  men ;  for  he  certainly  supposed  that  the  entire 
army  of  French  and  Indians  were  right  upon  them. 
Putnam,  however,  declared  that  he  could  not  suffer  a 
fellow-officer  to  be  sacrificed  without  even  an  effort 
to  save  him;  and,  after  offering  a  brief  and  very 
hasty  excuse  for  his  conduct,  pushed  forward  with  the 
hot  haste  that  was  so  characteristic  of  his  nature.  He 
thought  of  nothing,  and  cared  for  nothing,  but  to  res- 
cue his  brave  companions. 


CONTINUATION  OF  THE  FRENCH  WAR.         63 

They  reached  the  company  of  regulars  who  were 
thus  fighting  for  their  lives,  and  rallied  around  them 
in  an  instant.  Putnam  was  for  going  pell-mell  into 
the  swamp;  and  in  they  went,  raising  a  shout,  as 
they  did  so,  loud  enough  to  have  frightened  the  very 
beasts  of  the  forest.  The  Indians  were  not  expecting 
to  be  received  in  quite  this  style,  entertaining  no  such 
ideas  of  the  courage  of  their  enemy;  they  therefore 
took  to  flight  with  great  precipitancy,  and  were  hotly 
pursued  during  the  rest  of  the  day  into  the  forest. 
Putnam  returned  to  the  fort  with  his  men,  expect- 
ing, of  course,  to  be  disgraced  for  his  open  disobe- 
dience of  orders ;  but  the  general  thought  proper,  un- 
der all  the  circumstances,  to  let  the  matter  pass  by  in 
silence,  and  probably  was  glad  of  an  excuse  to  get 
over  it  so  easily.  It  would,  without  doubt,  have 
created  an  intense  excitement  in  the  garrison,  had 
Putnam  received  even  a  reprimand  for  his  brave  and 
self-sacrificing  conduct  on  so  trying  an  occasion. 

Putnam  remained  at  Fort  Edward  during  that 
winter.  In  the  course  of  the  winter,  too,  another  op- 
portunity offered  for  him  to  make  a  display  of  that 
cool  courage  and  bold  daring,  for  which  he  enjoyed 
so  wide  a  fame  among  the  soldiers.  The  barracks 
caught  fire  at  a  point  not  more  than  twelve  feet  dis- 
tant from  the  powder  magazine,  in  which  were  stored 
about  fifteen  tons  of  powder.  Cannon  were  brought 


64  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

to  bear  upon  them,  in  the  hope  of  battering  down  a 
portion  of  them,  and  thus  staying  the  progress  of  the 
fire.  But  it  was  in  vain.  Putnam  saw  the  ex- 
treme danger,  and,  knowing  that  the  flames  were 
rapidly  advancing  in  the  direction  of  the  magazine, 
determined  to  make  every  exertion  possible  to  check 
them.  For  this  purpose,  he  stood  upon  a  ladder 
reaching  to  the  roof,  and  took  the  buckets  of  water  as 
they  were  passed  up  to  him  from  the  line  of  "men  that 
was  formed  between  the  fort  and  the  river,  and  him- 
self kept  dashing  it  without  intermission  upon  the 
flames.  The  heat  grew  every  moment  more  and  more 
intense,  till  he  thought  at  times  he  could  endure  it  no 
longer.  The  fire  gained  on  him  in  spite  of  his  efforts, 
and  he  found  himself  enshrouded  in  a  rolling  mass 
of  smoke  and  flame.  One  pair  of  thick  woollen  mit- 
tens was  burned  off  his  hands,  and  he  immediately 
called  for  another ;  these  he  kept  continually  dipping 
in  the  water,  to  preserve  them  from  the  fate  of  the 
other  pair. 

He  was  even  directed  to  come  down,  as  it  was  worse 
than  useless  to  expose  himself  in  this  way  any  longer ; 
but  he  resolutely  refused,  fighting  the  furious  enemy 
with  a  desperate  energy  that  excited  general  wonder 
and  admiration.  Still  all  the  while  he  appeared  as 
cool  and  collected  as  if  there  was  no  such  danger  as 
fifteen  tons  of  powder  contained,  within  a  mile  of 


CONTINUATION  OF  THE  FRENCH  WAR.          65 

him.  Some  of  the  men,  in  the  meantime,  stricken 
with  a  panic,  were  proceeding  to  get  their  few  val- 
uables out  of  the  fort  and  make  ready  for  the  ex- 
pected explosion. 

Up  to  this  time,  only  a  single  angle  of  the  bar- 
racks was  on  fire ;  but  now  the  flames  enwrapped  the 
entire  line,  and  were  bent  on  getting  at  the  powder 
beyond.  Putnam  was  then  obliged  to  leave  his  post 
on  the  ladder,  and  came  down  and  planted  himself, 
as  the  last  resource,  between  the  burning  barracks 
and  the  magazine,  and  called  for  more  water.  They 
kept  passing  it  to  him  in  a  steady  stream  of  buckets. 
The  fire  had  now  caught  the  outside  timbers  of  the 
magazine,  and  burned  them  completely  off.  Only  a 
single  thickness  remained  between  that  and  the  pow- 
der, and  that  was  soon  reduced  to  a  living  coal! 
Some  thought  of  flight;  but  Putnam  worked  on. 
While  his  sturdy  form  stood  confronting  the  fires,  it 
acted  upon  those  who  saw  him  like  a  magnet,  to  at- 
tract them  to  the  spot.  So  they  all  worked  with 
greater  enthusiasm  still.  Putnam  was  covered  with 
the  thick-falling  cinders,  and  enshrouded  with  the 
smoke.  Every  one  expected  to  see  him  give  out  before 
so  relentless  a  foe  as  the  one  he  had  undertaken  to 
contend  with.  This  was  a  rarer  display  of  true  cour- 
age than  when  he  went  down  alone  into  the  wolfs 
den  at  midnight,  finding  his  way  along  with  a  flick- 
5 


66  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

ering  torch.  He  poured  on  the  water  incessantly. 
At  last  the  main  timbers  of  the  barracks  having 
burned  through,  they  fell  in,  and  the  danger  was 
over.  For  nearly  two  hours  he  had  fought  the  fire 
single-handed.  He  was  blistered  from  head  to  foot, 
from  his  exposure  to  the  intense  heat ;  and  on  drawing 
his  second  pair  of  mittens  from  his  hands,  the  skin 
came  with  them  too. 

.  He  was  a  keen  sufferer  from  the  effects  of  these 
blisters  and  burns,  and  it  was  many  weeks  before  he 
was  able  to  feel  that  his  case  had  taken  a  favorable 
turn.  But  by  this  single  act  he  had  earned  for  him- 
self the  warmest  admiration  and  the  hearty  gratitude 
of  the  garrison,  and  indeed  of  the  entire  army.  No 
one  could  justly  estimate  what  he  alone  had  saved,  by 
thus  subduing  such  a  remorseless  enemy  as  for  a  time 
threatened  to  overwhelm  them  all  with  instant  de- 
struction. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CAMPAIGN  OF  1758. 

WILLIAM  PITT,  afterwards  Lord  Chatham,  had 
been  entrusted  with  the  administration  of  affairs  by 
the  British  government  during  the  previous  year,  the 
King  finding  the  people  at  home  and  his  colonies  in 
America  were  growing  exceedingly  restive  under  the 
accumulating  disasters  and  mortifications  of  the  war. 
Thus  far,  nothing  seemed  to  have  come  of  all  their 
efforts  and  sacrifices.  The  three  or  four  northern 
colonies  that  had  heretofore  been  so  lavish  of  their 
men  and  money  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war, — a 
war,  too,  which  was  to  bring  no  immediate  advan- 
tage to  themselves, — felt  that  it  was  a  drain  upon 
them  to  go  on  in  this  way,  for  which  there  was  no  like- 
lihood that  they  would  ever  receive  a  proper  compen- 
sation. Had  the  army  achieved  any  signal  successes, 
it  would  have  been  a  different  thing;  but  the  idea 
of  continuing  as  they  had  been  doing  for  the  past  two 
and  three  campaigns,  caused  no  little  irritation  and 
disquiet  among  them.  They  had  raised  fifteen  thou- 
sand men  to  carry  on  this  war;  and  they  hesitated 

67 


68  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

about  raising  any  more  with  so  little  promise  of  suc- 
cess. 

As  soon,  however,  as  it  was  understood  that  the 
king  had  changed  his  ministry,  their  hopes  changed 
too,  and  they  looked  forward  to  a  chance  now  of  re- 
trieving their  past  losses,  and  securing  that  honorable 
peace  for  which  they  had  been  fighting. 

Mr.  Pitt  saw  at  once,  with  his  instinctive  compre- 
hensiveness of  mind,  that  the  arms  of  the  English  had 
failed  of  success  hitherto,  on  account  of  the  lack  of 
capacity  and  courage  on  the  part  of  the  leaders.  He 
therefore  resolved  to  recall  the  inefficient  Lord  Lon- 
don ;  and  ordered  Abercrombie  *  to  resume  the  com- 
mand, in  which  the  former  had,  only  the  year  before 
superseded  him.  General  Abercrombie  made  his 
head  quarters  at  Fort  Edward.  He  had  been  there 
but  a  little  while,  when  he  gave  directions  to  Major 
Putnam  to  take  sixty  men  with  him  down  towards 
South  Bay,  beyond  the  place  where  Wood  Creek  emp- 

*  James  Abercrombie  (1706-1781),  born  of  a  wealthy 
Scotch  family,  was  bred  as  a  soldier  and  rose  to  the  office 
of  colonel  in  the  British  army.  In  June,  1756,  he  was  sent 
to  this  country  and  commanded  the  British  forces  until  the 
arrival  of  London  in  August  of  that  year.  In  1758  he  suc- 
ceeded Loudon  as  commander-in-chief.  He  had  no  military 
ability.  His  blunder  at  Ticonderoga  cost  his  country  the 
lives  of  2,000  brave  men.  In  1759  he  was  superseded  by 
Amherst  and  returned  to  England.  Elected  to  Parliament, 
he  furthered  those  measures  of  harsh  policy  toward  the 
colonies  which  resulted  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 


CAMPAIGN  OF  1758.  69 

ties  into  Lake  Champlain,  and  there  watch  for  such 
parties  of  the  French  as  might  come  straggling  along 
in  their  direction.  This  was  business  exactly  suited 
to  Putnam's  mind,  and  he  proceeded  to  obey  so  wel- 
come an  order  with  his  usual  alacrity.  Arriving  at  a 
spot  which  he  thought  a  most  favorable  one  for  en- 
trenching his  little  party,  he  threw  up  a  breast  work 
of  stone  some  thirty  feet  in  length,  and  ingeniously 
concealed  the  whole  with  young  pine  trees  which  were 
chopped  for  the  purpose.  The  creek  at  that  point  was 
only  thirty  yards  in  width ;  and  the  precipice  on 
which  he  erected  his  fortification  lifted  itself  some 
ten  or  fifteen  feet  straight  above  the  water.  The  op- 
posite bank  was  very  steep,  and  fully  twenty  feet  in 
height. 

The  party  became  short  of  provisions,  after  a 
time,  although  Putnam  had  already  sent  back  fifteen 
men  to  Fort  Edward,  who  were  too  unwell  to  stand 
the  exposure  any  longer.  He  felt  sorely  the  want  to 
which  they  were  getting  reduced,  and  cast  about  to 
find  some  way  of  securing  temporary  supplies.  Hap- 
pening to  see  a  large  buck  emerging  from  the  thicket 
and  making  ready  to  plunge  into  the  creek  and  swim 
to  the  other  bank,  he  impulsively  fired  and  brought 
the  animal  to  the  ground.  At  such  a  time,  the  firing 
of  a  gun  was  contrary  to  military  rules,  and  the  most 
hazardous  experiment  that  could  have  been  tried. 


70  LEFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

And  it  proved  so  in  the  present  instance.  Marin,  the 
famous  French  partisan, — of  whom  we  have  spoken 
before, — chanced  to  be  in  the  vicinity  with  a  party 
of  French  and  Indians,  moving  stealthily  down  to- 
wards the  American  forces.  This  warning,  which 
Putnam's  musket  furnished  him,  also  sufficed  to  show 
him  where  the  provincial  scouts  were  stationed;  and 
the  moment  his  sentinel,  who  had  heard  the  report 
of  the  musket,  brought  in  word  to  that  effect,  Marin 
resolved  upon  either  surprising  them  where  they 
were,  or  stealing  past  them  unperceived  into  the 
country  below. 

The  French  and  Indians  glided  on  down  the  creek 
as  silently  as  possible.  They  detected  as  yet  no  signs 
of  an  ambush,  for  the  pine  trees  before  the  parapet 
which  Putnam  had  erected  served  as  a  perfect  screen. 
At  about  ten  o'clock  at  night,  one  of  the  American 
sentinels  brought  in  word  that  he  saw  a  great  many 
canoes,  filled  with  men,  advancing  in  the  silence  of 
the  night  in  their  direction,  and  that  they  would  soon 
be  within  reach  of  the  fort  on  the  bank.  Putnam 
called  in  the  sentinels,  and  prepared  to  greet  the 
enemy  in  his  earnest  manner,  as  soon  as  they  should 
make  their  appearance.  It  was  a  perfectly  still  night, 
and  a  full  moon  flooded  the  landscape  with  its  mellow 
light.  All  within  the  little  parapet  was  hushed. 
There  was  not  even  the  rustle  of  a  bough,  or  the 


CAMPAIGN  OF  1758.  ft 

crackle  of  a  twig  to  be  heard.  The  canoes  came  in 
sight.  They  were  indeed  packed  with  men,  as  the 
sentinel  had  warned  them.  Putnam  resolved  to 
allow  the  first  part  of  the  line  of  boats  to  get  well  into 
the  throat  of  the  watery  defile,  and  then  to  open 
fire  upon  them  and  take  all  possible  and  destructive 
advantage  of  their  confusion. 

They  had  paddled  their  way  into  this  treacherous 
snare,  not  a  sound  as  yet  breaking  the  stillness,  when 
a  soldier  in  the  American  party  accidentally  struck 
the  lock  of  his  musket  against  a  stone.  "  O-WISH  !  " 
hissed  the  commander  of  the  enemy,  halting  in  his 
sudden  fright,  and  repeating  the  Indian  watch-word. 
The  van  of  the  line  of  boats  having  thus  come  to  a 
stand,  the  rear  crowded  up  rapidly,  and  in  a  moment 
they  were  all  huddled  together  before  the  American, 
breastworks.  Putnam  saw  his  advantage,  and  eagerly 
improved  it.  He  at  once  ordered  his  men  to  fire.  In- 
stantly the  entangled  knot  of  canoes  was  thrown  into 
still  direr  confusion.  The  French  could  not  see  their 
enemy,  and  of  course  could  return  but  an  ineffectual 
fire.  On  the  other  hand,  almost  every  shot  of  the 
American  party  carried  death  along  with  it.  They 
kept  up  their  murderous  work  from  the  parapet  with 
unabated  energy,  killing  great  numbers  of  the  enemy 
in  the  boats,  whose  lifeless  bodies  went  tumbling  over 
the  sides  and  plashing  into  the  water.  Marin  at 


?2  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

length  saw,  with  his  quick  eye,  that,  from  the  firing 
of  the  Americans,  there  could  not  be  many  of  them, 
and  accordingly  sent  off  a  detachment  of  his  men  to 
land  below  and  attack  the  entrenched  party  from  be- 
hind. 

Putnam,  however,  was  as  quick  as  himself.  He 
instantly  ordered  a  detachment  of  a  dozen  men  to  go 
and  prevent  their  landing,  which  order  was  success- 
fully executed ;  and  he  sent  still  another  party  up  the 
creek,  to  prevent  a  similar  demonstration  in  that  di- 
rection. There  were  thus  left  only  twenty  men  with 
Putnam  in  the  fort ;  and  these  kept  loading  and  firing 
their  pieces  during  the  remainder  of  the  night,  mak- 
ing great  havoc  with  the  boats,  but  not  even  sacrific- 
ing a  single  life  among  their  own  number.  It  was 
discovered,  when  morning  broke,  that  a  part  of  the 
French  had  succeeded  in  making  a  landing  below, 
between  the  Americans  and  Fort  Edward,  and  noth- 
ing was  left  the  latter  but  to  retreat  with  all  possible 
despatch.  This  last  order  of  Putnam's  was  executed 
with  signal  success.  Only  two  of  the  American  scout- 
ing party  were  wounded  during  this  action,  while 
nearly  three  hundred  of  the  enemy  fell  beneath  the 
fire  from  behind  the  concealed  battlements  on  the 
bank.  These  two  were  sent  off,  with  two  others,  to  the 
fort,  but  were  afterwards  overtaken  by  their  pursuers, 
having  been  tracked  by  their  blood  on  the  ground. 


CAMPAIGN  OF  1758.  73 

They  advised  their  escort  to  fly,  which  the  latter  did. 
One  of  them  then  killed  three  of  the  Indians,  before 
they  succeeded  in  despatching  him,  and  the  other  was 
carried  off  a  prisoner  into  Canada.  Putnam  after- 
wards saw  him  there,  when  himself  a  prisoner  in.  the 
hands  of  the  French.* 


*  It  was  about  ten  o'clock  at  night  when  a  sentinel  gave 
the  news  that  a  fleet  of  bark  canoes,  filled  with  men,  was 
approaching.  "  The  part  of  the  lake  which  the  enemy  soon 
entered  is  narrow — only  a  few  rods  wide — and  the  shores 
on  either  side  abrupt  and  rocky.  .  .  The  night  was  clear 
and  the  full  moon  shone  with  unusual  brightness.  .  .  . 
Some  of  the  enemy  paddled  by  little  suspicious  of  danger. 
.  .  Putnam,  who  had  commanded  his  men  not  to  fire 
until  he  gave  the  signal  by  doing  so  himself,  discharged 
his  gun.  A  deadly  volley  followed  from  the  breastworks, 
and  the  well-concerted  attack  threw  the  enemy  into  great 
confusion.  .  .  In  the  weird  moonlight  the  tragic  scene 
continued.  Putnam  and  his  men  poured  an  incessant  and 
destructive  fire  upon  the  enemy,  who  in  return  groaned, 
shrieked,  yelled,  and  ineffectively  shot  towards  the  parapet. 
At  dawn  Putnam  learned  that  some  of  the  foe  had  landed 
below  him  and  were  hastening  to  cut  off  his  retreat.  Know- 
ing that  the  force  was  superior  to  his  own  and  that  he 
could  make  but  little  resistance,  since  his  soldiers  had 
only  a  small  supply  of  ammunition  left,  some  of  them  hav- 
ing in  fact  shot  their  last  round,  he  ordered  his  men  to 
"  swing  their  packs."  They  retired  rapidly,  in  good  order, 
and  succeeded  in  advancing  far  enough  up  Wood  Creek  to 
avoid  being  surrounded,  although  they  were  obliged  to 
leave  behind  them  three  of  their  number,  who  had  been 
wounded  in  the  long-continued  action.  Afterwards,  when 
Putnam  was  in  Canada,  he  learned  that  the  French  and 
Indians  in  the  memorable  moonlight  encounter,  numbered 
five  hundred,  commanded  by  the  famous  partisan  [i.  e.t 


74  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

On  his  retreat  to  Fort  Edward,  having  only  forty 
men  under  him  in  all,  Putnam  was  suddenly  sur- 
prised to  find  himself  fired  upon  by  a  party  that  was 
unexpectedly  approaching  in  front.  Ignorant  of 
their  numbers,  he  nevertheless  determined  to  rush 
forward  to  the  conflict,  and  at  once  fight  his  way 
through  or  run  the  chances  for  his  life.  Scarcely 
had  he  set  up  his  loud  shout  for  his  men  to  follow 
their  leader,  when  a  cry  arose  from  the  other  side, — 
"  Hold,  we  are  friends !  "  "  Friends,  or  foes,"  said 
Putnam,  when  they  came  up,  "  you  deserve  to  be  fired 
into  for  doing  so  little  execution,  when  you  had  so 
fair  a  shot !  "  The  party  proved  to  be  a  detach- 
ment of  men  from  the  fort,  who  had  been  sent  to  cover 
the  retreat  of  the  little  force  under  Putnam. 

Gen.  Abercrombie  determined,  not  long  after  tak- 
ing possession  of  his  post  at  Fort  Edward  that  year, 
to  signalize  the  year's  campaign  by  some  brilliant  un- 
dertaking. He  could  think  of  nothing  which  would 
bring  him  larger  and  more  sudden  fame  than  the 
capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga,  and  he  therefore  formed 
the  resolution  to  compass  such  a  plan  before  the  sea- 
son went  by.  It  was  a  hazardous  undertaking,  as  he 
well  knew ;  the  fortifications  were  of  the  most  thor- 

scout,  or  guerilla],  Marin.  No  scouting  party  since  the 
war  began  had  suffered  such  a  less,  for  more  than  one 
half  of  those  who  went  out  never  came  back." — Livingston. 


CAMPAIGN  OF  1758.  75 

ough  and  extensive  character;  the  site  was  almost  a 
perfect  defence  of  itself;  and  it  required  all  the 
strength  and  courage  of  a  well  appointed  and  highly 
disciplined  army  to  march  up  to  storm  such  a  for- 
tress, in  the  face  of  the  thousand  obstacles  which  the 
garrison  had  it  in  their  power  to  throw  in  their  way. 
But  Abercrombie  seemed  to  have  set  his  heart  on 
the  undertaking.  His  imagination,  it  is  easy  to  sup- 
pose, was  dazzled  with  visions  of  the  military  glory 
Avhich  its  capture  would  earn  for  his  name. 

It  so  chanced  that  the  garrison  within  the  fort  at 
Ticonderoga  was  at  one  time  this  summer  reduced  to 
four  thousand  men ;  whereas  Abercrombie  had  at  his 
command  fully  sixteen  thousand,  nine  thousand  of 
whom  were  furnished  by  the  Colonies.  They  as- 
sembled at  Fort  George,  and  set  sail  on  the  lake  on 
the  5th  day  of  July,  in  the  gray  of  the  morning.  It 
was  a  Saturday.  The  array  thus  presented  on  the  sur- 
face of  that  beautiful  lake,  formed  a  picture  to  which 
no  descriptive  pen  could  do  the  justice  it  deserves. 
There  were  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  whale  boats, 
and  nine  hundred  batteaux,  all  laden  heavily  with 
men  and  arms.  In  the  sultry  twilight  of  the  same 
evening  they  debarked  at  a  point  on  the  lake  called 
Sabbath  Day  Point,  where  they  remained  until  mid- 
night, refreshing  themselves  with  rest  after  the  long 
day's  heat  and  fatigue. 


76  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

Young  Lord  Howe  was  with  the  army,  the  idol 
and  adored  of  all.  He  gathered  around  his  table  the 
many  youthful  and  gallant  spirits  of  the  army,  with 
whom  he  discoursed  with  great  freedom  and  eloquence 
on  the  prospects  of  this  most  splendid  expedition. 
Capt.  Stark  was  present,  who  afterwards  achieved  a 
lasting  renown  as  one  of  the  Generals  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. Much  was  said  about  the  situation  of  Ticon- 
deroga,  its  defences,  the  means  of  approach  to  its 
fastnesses,  and  the  probable  termination  of  the  at- 
tempt to  reduce  it  by  their  arms.  There  were  those 
present,  who,  on  recalling  many  things  which  Howe 
uttered  that  night,  thought  they  detected  a  gleam  of 
that  sadness  of  his  to  which  they  afterwards  gave  the 
name  of  presentiment. 

This  flotilla  of  more  than  a  thousand  boats  on  the 
bosom  of  the  lake,  presented  a  splendid  military 
pageant.  Howe,  in  a  large  boat,  led  the  van,  sur- 
rounded by  a  company  of  Rangers  and  boatmen. 
The  English  troops  were  displayed  in  the  centre,  and 
the  Previncials  formed  the  wings.  It  was  a  little 
after  midnight  when  they  re-embarked  and  began  to 
move  forward  again.  There  was  not  a  cloud  to  be 
seen  in  the  sky ;  the  stars  shone  out  bright  and  spark- 
ling ;  and  the  placid  lake  was  unruffled  by  the  breath 
of  the  lightest  breeze.  Their  oars  were  muffled,  and 
their  progress  was  so  silent  that  not  a  single  one  of  the 


CAMPAIGN  OF  1758.  77 

sentinels  on  the  surrounding  hillsides  observed  them. 
It  was  day-dawn  when  they  had  come  within  four 
miles  of  the  point  at  which  they  were  to  land.  The 
sentinels  of  the  French  had  no  suspicion  of  the  pres- 
ence or  even  of  the  approach  of  the  English  army, 
until  the  blaze  of  their  scarlet  uniforms  flashed  in 
their  eyes,  as  the  crowded  boats  rounded  the  point  of 
land  that  intervened.  They  landed  at  about  noon  in 
a  little  cove  on  the  west  side  of  the  lake,  Lord  Howe 
leading  on  the  vanguard  of  the  army.  The  Rangers 
pushed  forward  through  the  forest,  to  clear  the  way 
for  the  main  body.  Howe  came  to  the  bridge  that 
spanned  the  stream  formed  by  the  emptying  of  Lake 
George  into  Lake  Champlain,  at  the  point  known 
as  Lower  Falls;  and  thence  he  hurried  on  for  the 
distance  of  a  mile  and  a  quarter  to  the  French 
lines. 

The  French  first  erected  their  fortifications  at  Ti- 
conderoga  in  1755.  They  found  that  site  most  hap- 
pily adapted  to  the  requirements  of  a  fortress,  it 
being  peninsular  in  form,  and  elevated  more  than 
a  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  lake.  On  three 
sides  was  water,  while  on  the  fourth  was  an  almost 
impassable  swamp,  or  morass.  This  latter  was  sit- 
uated to  the  north.  There  was  a  neck,  or  narrow  strip 
of  land,  between  this  swamp  and  the  outlet  of  Lake 
George,  upon  which  were  built  regular  entrench- 


78  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

ments,  and  afterwards  a  breastwork  nine  feet  in 
height;  and  before  this  breastwork  was  an  abatis, — 
which  is  formed  of  trees  cut  down  and  pointed  with 
their  sharp  branches  outward,  rendering  it  extremely 
difficult  for  opposing  troops  to  make  their  way  over 
them  in  an  attempt  at  storming. 

As  we  before  remarked,  Montcalm  had  but  four 
thousand  men  under  his  command  in  the  fortress,  and 
was  at  the  time  expecting  a  reinforcement  of  three 
thousand  from  Canada.  Abercrombie  knew  this  very 
well.  The  latter  advanced  his  army  in  three  columns, 
but  they  made  but  slow  progress  on  account  of  the  in- 
tricacy of  the  forest  into  which  so  large  an  army  had 
been  plunged.*  An  advance  battalion  of  the  French 
fled  from  the  log  breastwork  they  occupied,  at  their 

*  The  fact  is  that  Lord  Abercrombie  was  lost  in  the 
woods.  The  English  were  very  slow  to  learn  the  require- 
ments of  warfare  on  the  frontier.  It  was  this  ignorance 
that  cost  Braddock  his  defeat  and  death  on  the  way  to 
Fort  Duquesne.  In  the  present  instance,  Abercrombie  was 
trying  to  advance  with  mechanical  precision  and  in  regu- 
lar columns,  as  if  he  were  on  a  parade  ground.  No  won- 
der he  found  it,  as  he  explained,  "  a  strange  situation," 
and  added  that  "  the  woods  being  very  thick,  impassable 
with  any  regularity  to  such  a  body  of  men,  and  the  guides 
unskilful,  the  troops  were  bewildered,  and  the  columns 
broke,  falling  in  one  upon  another."  It  may  be  added  that 
the  detachment  of  French  troops,  with  which  the  conflict 
began,  was  also  lost;  but  there  was  an  important  difference. 
The  French  were  on  their  own  ground  and  quickly  recov- 
ered themselves,  while  with  the  English  matters  grew 
worse  and  worse. 


CAMPAIGN  OF  1758.  79 

approach,  which  they  fired  as  they  fled.  Lord  Howe  * 
was  second  in  command.  Putnam  acted  as  an  ad- 
vance guard  to  thread  the  forest,  and  to  perform  the 
valuable  service  of  a  scout.  He  had  a  hundred  brave 
men  under  him.  Young  Howe  was  eager  to  advance 
as  fast  as  the  scouts,  and  proposed  to  Major  Putnam 
to  accompany  him ;  but  to  this  the  latter  would  not 
listen.  He  nobly  said  to  him,  in  trying  to  dissuade 
him  from  his  purpose,  "  My  Lord,  if  I  am  killed, 
the  loss  of  my  life  will  be  of  little  consequence ;  but 
the  safety  of  yours  is  of  infinite  importance  to  this 
army."  "  Your  life,"  instantly  answered  Howe,  "  is 
as  dear  to  you  as  mine  is  to  me !  I  am  determined  to 
go !  "  And  he  did  go.  It  was  not  long  before  they 
came  up  with  the  advance  guard  of  the  enemy,  the 
same  which  had  a  little  while  before  fled  and  burned 
the  log  breastworks.  This  body  was  without  a  guide, 
it  seems,  and  had  become  bewildered  in  trying  to 
find  their  way  back  to  the  French  lines.  At  once 

*  Lord  Howe  was  a  born  leader  and  was  universally  pop- 
ular throughout  the  army.  He  did  not  superciliously  hold 
himself  aloof  from  the  volunteers,  as  is  too  often  the  cus- 
tom of  regularly  educated  military  men.  He  was  compan- 
ionable with  all  down  to  the  humblest,  though  he  was  a 
lord.  He  was  not  only  personally  brave,  but  he  had  the 
pricelesi  quality  of  infusing  courage  and  enthusiasm  into 
the  whole  body  of  the  troops.  He  was  just  such  a  soldier 
as  to  be  an  ideal  and  even  idol  to  Putnam.  He  manifested 
special  interest  in  the  rangers,  a  fact  that  was  fully  appre- 
ciated by  the  latter.  His  death  was  a  loss  to  the  army  that 
can  never  be  computed. 


80  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

fighting  began  between  the  parties,  and  Lord  Howe 
fell  at  the  very  first  fire !  The  French,  however,  were 
driven  back,  having  lost  in  killed  and  prisoners  four 
hundred  and  fifty  men.  The  English  were  greatly 
confused,  their  lines  broken,  and  at  the  end  of  the  en- 
gagement Abercrombie  withdrew  with  them  again 
to  the  landing  place  on  Lake  George,  to  obtain  rest 
and  refreshment. 

It  was  said  that  when  young  Lord  Howe  fell,  "  the 
soul  of  the  army  seemed  to  expire."  The  soldiers  all 
adored  him.  He  accommodated  himself  to  all  the 
circumstances  of  his  situation,  and  cut  his  hair  and 
shaped  his  garments  to  suit  the  requirements  of  the 
service  and  the  fashion  of  the  Provincial  army.  Five 
thousand  troops  came  over  with  him  to  Halifax  from 
England,  the  year  before,  whom  he  commanded  in 
this  expedition  against  Ticonderoga.  When  he  met 
his  melancholy  end,  he  was  not  yet  thirty-four  years 
old.  The  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  appropri- 
ated two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  or  about  twelve 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  to  secure  the  erection  of  a 
monument  to  his  memory  in  Westminster  Abbey. 
His  remains  were  carried  to  Albany,  where  they  were 
buried  with  suitable  honors.  His  coffin  was  opened 
many  years  afterwards,  and  it  was  found  that  his  hair 
had  grown  out  in  long  and  beautiful  locks. 


CAMPAIGN  OF  1758.  81 

Gen.  Abercrombie  next  despatched  a  party  to  make 
observations  concerning  the  defences  of  the  enemy; 
and  an  engineer  who  went  with  them  brought  back 
word  that  the  works  might  easily  be  carried,  as  they 
were  not  yet  finished.  Upon  this  the  English  army 
marched  forward  once  more.  The  French  opened  a 
galling  fire  of  artillery  upon  them  from  behind  their 
breastworks,  as  they  advanced,  but  they  seemed  to 
take  no  heed  of  it  whatever.  On  they  rushed  in  the 
face  of  the  enemy's  fire,  resolved  to  carry  the  works 
by  storrn.  The  abatis  presented  the  most  fearful 
obstacle  to  them,  but  they  cared  nothing  for  that. 
They  recklessly  dashed  on,  clambering  over  and  hew- 
ing their  way  through  the  jagged  limbs  of  the  trees, 
for  the  incredible  space  of  four  long  hours.  A  few 
did  succeed  in  finally  reaching  the  parapet, — but  they 
fell  back  in  death  the  instant  they  mounted  it.  The 
English  army  was  mown  down  in  the  most  cruel  and 
murderous  manner,  while  it  was  unable  to  do  any  exe- 
cution in  return.*  Abercrombie  at  length  saw  the 
futility  of  the  attempt  to  storm  the  works,  and  with- 
drew his  forces  hastily.  The  French  did  not  pursue, 
or  the  loss  must  have  been  much  greater  even  than  it 

*  Parkman  has  given  a  vivid  account  of  this  bloody 
event: — "The  scene  was  frightful,  masses  of  infuriated 
men  who  could  not  go  forward,  and  would  not  go  back; 
straining  for  an  enemy  they  could  not  reach,  and  firing  on 
an  enemy  they  could  not  see;  caught  in  the  entanglement 

6 


82  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

was.  They  retreated  *  in  safety  to  the  point  on  Lake 
George  at  which  they  first  landed,  whence  the 
wounded  were  sent  under  escorts  to  Albany  and  Fort 
Edward. 

In  this  most  rash  and  inconsiderate  expedition  the 
English  army  lost  two  thousand  men,  and  twenty-five 
hundred  stand  of  arms.  They  rushed  like  brave  and 
dauntless  heroes  into  the  very  jaws  of  death,  but  it 
was  the  height  of  a  cruel  ignorance  thus  to  sacrifice 
the  flower  of  an  army  for  no  purpose  at  all.  Had  Ab- 
ercrombie  ordered  a  general  assault  on  the  morning 
after  the  bloody  skirmish  with  the  advanced  guard, 
he  might  have  carried  the  then  incomplete  intrench- 
ments ;  but  he  delayed  until  the  next  day,  and  by  that 
time  the  French  had  constructed  a  bristling  abatis 
along  their  entire  lines,  which  prevented  the  approach 
of  artillery,  or  even  of  infantry. 

Putnam  displayed  great  courage  at  all  times  dur- 

of  fallen  trees;  tripped  by  briers,  stumbling  over  logs, 
tearing  through  boughs;  shouting,  yelling,  cursing,  and 
pelted  all  the  while  with  bullets  that  killed  them  by  scores, 
stretched  them  on  the  ground,  or  hung  them  on  jagged 
branches  in  strange  attitudes  of  death.  The  provincials 
supported  the  regulars  with  spirit,  and  some  of  them  forced 
their  way  to  the  foot  of  the  wooden  wall."  The  English 
did  not  lack  bravery  even  to  the  point  of  desperation. 
During  the  afternoon  they  made  no  less  than  three  assaults, 
and  every  one  of  them  was  hopeless. 

*  The  English  retreat  was  covered  by  Putnam  and  his 
rangers,  who  did  not  leave  the  field  until  nearly  dark. 


CAMPAIGN  OF  1758.  83 

ing  the  several  engagements ;  and  in  the  final  retreat, 
acting  as  Aid,  in  place  of  the  lamented  Howe,  to  Gen- 
eral Abercrombie,  he  performed  most  efficient  and 
gallant  service.  Gen.  Abercrombie  immediately  re- 
turned to  Fort  Edward,  having  accomplished  none  of 
the  objects  for  which  this  most  costly  and  inglor- 
ious military  enterprise  had  been  undertaken.  His 
inefficiency  as  a  commander  was  established  in  the 
eyes  of  every  man  in  the  army. 

It  was  during  this  summer  that  Putnam  performed 
his  daring  feat  of  dashing  down  the  mad  rapids  of 
the  Hudson  in  an  open  boat.  He  was  near  Fort  Mil- 
ler at  the  time,  which  was  situated  on  the  east  bank 
of  the  Hudson.  Learning  suddenly  that  a  party  of 
Indians  were  in  the  woods  behind  him,  he  bethought 
himself  of  what  he  should  do.  If  he  tried  to  cross 
the  river  at  that  point,  the  savages  would  certainly 
shoot  him  before  he  could  get  over;  if  he  stayed 
where  he  was,  his  doom  was  sealed  without  any 
doubt;  and  if  he  trusted  himself  in  his  light  skiff 
to  the  boiling  rapids,  he  could  hardly  expect  less  than 
an  awful  death  on  the  rocks  below.  But,  as  usual 
with  him,  his  resolution  was  quickly  taken.  He 
sprang  into  the  boat,  hastily  ordered  the  oarsmen  to 
push  off  into  the  stream,  and  succeeded  in  getting  be- 
yond the  reach  of  the  guns  of  the  Indians  by  the  time 
they  came  in  sight  upon  the  shore. 


84:  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

But  he  had  escaped  one  danger  only  to  plunge  into 
the  jaws  of  another.  In  a  few  moments  they  were 
within  the  whirl  and  roar  of  the  rapids.  The  rocks, 
jagged  and  sharp,  thrust  themselves  out  of  the  water 
on  this  side  and  that.  The  over-laden  boat  was  lifted 
up  and  thrown  down  again  by  the  mad  force  of  the 
breakers.  Putnam,  how7ever,  stood  like  a  statue  at 
the  helm,  skilfully  guiding  her  through  the  roaring 
dangers,  while  the  savages,  struck  dumb  with  aston- 
ishment at  what  they  saw,  only  looked  on  in  silence, 
exchanging  not  even  a  sign  with  one  another.  The 
boat  went  safely  through  the  foaming  waters,  and  es- 
caped all  the  perils  that  thrust  themselves  in  her  rapid 
way  :  and  in  a  few  seconds  shot  like  a  silver  arrow  out 
into  the  placid  bay  below.  The  Indians,  from  this, 
thought  Putnam  safe  from  all  danger,  and  supersti- 
tiously  believed  it  would  be  useless  to  fire  upon  him, 
for  his  life  was  "  charmed." 

In  August,  not  long  after  the  unfortunate  march 
to  Ticonderoga,  Putnam  was  sent,  with  Major  Rog- 
ers, to  overtake  a  party  of  the  enemy  that  had  made 
a  sudden  attack  on  one  of  their  baggage  trains,  and 
carried  off  a  large  quantity  of  valuable  stores.  They 
pushed  forward  with  all  possible  haste  to  South  Bay, 
a  part  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  reached  the  spot  just 
in  time  to  see  the  fugitives  embarking  in  their  boats. 
Putnam  concluded  it  was  best  to  remain  in  the  lo- 


CAMPAIGN  OF  1758.  85 

cality,  and  watch  the  enemy's  future  movements. 
Rogers  was  posted  at  South  Bay,  while  Putnam  took 
his  position  at  Wood  Creek,  which  empties  into  Lake 
Champlain,  and  about  a  dozen  miles  distant.  Marin 
was  soon  in  the  vicinity  again,  the  foraging  party 
having  probably  carried  word  to  the  army  above,  that 
the  Americans  were  in  pursuit ;  and  as  his  scouts  were 
known  to  the  Americans  to  be  hanging  on  their  out- 
posts, it  was  thought  most  prudent  for  Rogers  to 
unite  his  force  with  Putnam's  at  Wood  Creek,  and 
for  them  all  to  march  back  to  Eort  Edward  as  soon 
as  they  could.  This  they  proceeded  to  do  with  all 
proper  despatch. 

As  they  were  advancing  through  the  dense  thickets, 
so  dense  that  they  were  obliged  to  thread  their  way 
in  Indian  file,  Rogers  amused  himself  one  morning 
before  the  hour  for  marching  had  come,  with  firing 
at  a  mark  with  a  British  officer.*  It  was  of  course 
the  most  reckless  mistake  that  could  have  been  made. 
Marin's  party  of  Indians  was  near  enough  to  hear 
the  report,  and  the  wary  enemy  pushed  around  until 
he  came  to  an  ambuscade  through  which  the  retreat- 
ing provincials  would  have  to  pass.  There  he  in- 
tended to  take  his  bloody  advantage. 

The  American  troops,  numbering  about  five  hun- 

*  This  was  one  Lieutenant  Irwin.  They  were  shooting 
on  a  wager. 


86 

dred,  were  in  three  divisions;  the  first  was  led  on 
by  Major  Putnam;  Capt.  Dalzell  commanded  the  sec- 
ond; and  the  third  was  under  Major  Rogers.  No 
sooner  had  the  van  emerged  from  the  dense  thicket 
through  which  they  had  been  creeping,  upon  the 
comparatively  open  plain,  than  the  savages  fell  upon 
them  with  surprising  fury.  They  had  been  skilfully 
posted  all  along  the  way,  and  from  their  coverts  be- 
hind the  tree-trunks  made  sure  of  a  man  for  every 
fire.  Rogers  behaved  in  a  manner  that  was  at  the 
time  thought  cowardly ;  but  Putnam  pressed  on  with 
heated  resolution,  and  ordered  Dalzell  to  hasten  for- 
ward with  his  division  to  his  relief. 

In  a  short  time  the  fight  became  a  desperate  one, 
Now  it  was  hand  to  hand,  and  now  they  fired  at  one 
another  from  behind  the  protection  of  the  forest  trees. 
First  this  side  seemed  to  prevail,  and  then  that.  A 
gigantic  savage  *  approached  Putnam  to  take  his  life. 
The  latter  snapped  his  fusee,  having  it  pressed  close 
against  the  Indian's  breast.  It  missed  fire,  and  the 
savage  sprang  upon  him  with  all  his  native  ferocity, 
and  instantly  made  him  a  prisoner.  He  took  him 
and  tied  him  securely  to  a  tree  which  was  close  at 
hand,  and  then  resumed  his  hot  work  in  the  battle. 

The  conflict  went  on  with  redoubled  rage,  Capt. 
Dalzell  took  the  command,  and  pressed  hard  upon 

*  His  name  was  Caughnawaga. 


CAMPAIGN  OF  1758.  87 

the  foe  at  one  time,  when  they  would  recover  from 
their  disadvantage  and  dash  against  the  provincials 
with  increased  fury  and  madness  in  turn.  Putnam 
was  bound  to  the  tree  all  the  while,  and,  as  the  battle 
went  on,  he  was  several  times  placed  almost  in  the 
centre  of  the  fire  between  the  two  parties !  His  clothes 
were  pierced  with  bullets,  but  he  was  himself  provi- 
dentially unhurt.  When  once  the  provincials  were 
driven  far  back,  and  he  found  himself  surrounded  by 
the  enemy,  two  or  three  young  savages  amused  them- 
selves by  hurling  their  tomahawks  at  the  tree,  so  as 
just  to  graze  his  head.  Finally  a  cruel  Frenchman 
presented  his  gun  to  Putnam's  breast,  intending  to 
despatch  him  at  once ;  but  finding  it  would  not  go  off, 
he  clubbed  it  and  dealt  him  a  blow  upon  his  cheek, 
and  left  him,  supposing  that  he  had  made  an  end  of 


*  This  story  was  first  narrated  by  Humphreys,  who  re- 
ceived the  facts  direct  from  Putnam,  and  from  whose 
account  all  subsequent  narratives  of  the  event  have  been 
derived.  The  description  of  Humphreys  is  exceedingly 
vivid,  and  is  in  part  as  follows: — "The  balls  flew  inces- 
santly from  either  side,  many  struck  the  tree,  while  some 
passed  through  the  sleeves  and  skirts  of  his  coat.  In  this 
state  of  jeopardy,  unable  to  move  his  body,  or  to  stir  his 
limbs,  or  even  to  incline  his  head,  he  remained  more  than 
an  hour,  so  equally  balanced,  and  so  obstinate  was  the 
fight!  At  one  moment,  while  the  battle  swerved  in  favor 
of  the  enemy,  a  young  savage  chose  an  odd  way  of  discover- 
ing his  humor.  He  found  Putnam  bound,  he  might  have 


88  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

The  enemy  were  at  last  driven  back  by  the  provin- 
cials, but  in  their  hasty  retreat  they  were  careful  to 
unbind  their  prisoner  and  carry  him  along  with 
them.  He  was  weary  and  faint,  weak  from  the  abuses 
that  had  been  visited  upon  him,  and  almost  broken- 
hearted at  the  thought  of  being  led  off  through  the 
wilderness  into  captivity.  The  Indians  who  had 
charge  of  him,  tied  his  wrists  tightly  with  cords,  so 
that  they  were  badly  swollen  and  pained  him  ex- 
ceedingly. They  even  strapped  heavy  burdens  upon 


despatched  him  at  a  blow.  But  he  loved  better  to  excite 
the  terrors  of  the  prisoner,  by  hurling  a  tomahawk  at  his 
head,  or  rather  that  it  should  seem  that  his  object  was 
to  see  how  near  he  could  throw  it  without  touching  him — 
the  weapon  struck  in  the  tree  a  number  of  times  at  a 
hair's-breadth  distance  from  the  mark.  When  the  Indian 
had  finished  his  amusement,  a  French  bas-officer  (a  much 
more  inveterate  savage  by  nature,  though  descended  from 
so  humane  and  polished  a  nation)  perceiving  Putnam, 
came  up  to  him,  and,  leveling  a  fuzee  within  a  foot  of  his 
breast,  attempted  to  discharge  it — it  missed  fire.  Ineffect- 
ually did  the  intended  victim  solicit  the  treatment  due  to 
his  situation  by  repeating  that  he  was  a  prisoner  of  war. 
The  degenerate  Frenchman  did  not  understand  the  lan- 
guage of  honor  or  of  nature;  deaf  to  their  voice,  and  dead 
to  sensibility,  he  violently,  and  repeatedly,  pushed  the 
muzzle  of  his  gun  against  Putnam's  ribs,  and  finally  gave 
him  a  cruel  blow  on  the  jaw  with  the  butt-end  of  his  piece. 
After  this  dastardly  deed  he  left  him." 

Putnam  was  later  struck  on  the  cheek  by  the  tomahawk 
of  an  Indian,  and  the  scar  of  this  wound  he  carried  to  his 
grave. 


CAMPAIGN  OF  1758.  89 

his  back  besides.  He  begged  them  to  kill  him  out- 
right, and  put  him  out  of  his  suffering  at  once.  They 
compelled  him  to  walk  over  a  rough  and  hard  country, 
with  nothing  at  all  on  his  feet,  and  this  of  course  in- 
creased the  pain  he  endured  indescribably.  But  after 
a  time  his  savage  captor  came  up,  and  gave  him  a 
pair  of  moccasins  for  his  feet,  besides  removing  the 
cruel  burden  from  his  shoulders.* 

Had  this  chief  continued  with  him  on  the  journey, 
it  would  have  been  better  for  the  unfortunate  pris- 
oner. But  as  he  was  compelled  to  go  back  to  look 

*  That  Caughnawaga  spared  no  pains  to  guard  his  pris- 
oner safely,  may  be  inferred  from  the  following  account 
of  the  manner  in  which  he  prepared  Putnam  for  his  night's 
rest: — "  He  took  the  moccasins  from  his  feet  and  tied  them 
to  one  of  his  wrists;  then  directing  him  to  lie  down  on 
his  back  upon  the  bare  ground,  he  stretched  one  arm  to  its 
full  length,  and  bound  it  fast  to  a  young  tree;  the  other 
arm  was  extended  and  bound  in  the  same  manner — his  legs 
were  stretched  apart  and  fastened  to  two  saplings.  Then 
a  number  of  tall  but  slender  poles  were  cut  down,  which, 
with  some  long  bushes,  were  laid  across  his  body  from  head 
to  foot;  on  each  side  lay  as  many  Indians  as  could  con- 
veniently find  lodging,  in  order  to  prevent  the  possibility 
of  his  escape.  In  this  disagreeable  and  painful  posture  he 
remained  until  morning.  During  the  night,  the  longest 
and  most  dreary  conceivable,  our  hero  used  to  relate  that 
he  felt  a  ray  of  cheerfulness  come  casually  across  his 
mind,  and  could  not  even  refrain  from  smiling  when  he 
reflected  on  this  ludicrous  group  for  a  painter,  of  which 
he  himself  was  the  principal  figure." 


90  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

after  the  wounded,  some  two  hundred  Indians  went 
on  with  their  captive,  and  soon  came  into  what 
seemed  the  very  heart  of  the  wilderness.  Here  they 
stopped,  and  held  a  consultation.  It  was  resolved  at 
length  to  take  their  prisoner  and  roast  him  to  death 
by  a  slow  fire!  Such  fiendish  torture  was  exactly 
suited  to  their  savage  instincts.  Accordingly  they 
stripped  him  of  his  clothes,  bound  him  to  a  tree,  and 
piled  faggots  and  brushwood  in  a  circle  around  him. 
He  looked  on  in  courageous  silence,  and  prepared  his 
thoughts  for  the  end  that  seemed  near  at  hand.  His 
tormentors  began  to  yell  and  dance  around  him.  The 
fire  was  kindled,  and  the  flames  began  slowly  to 
creep  up  towards  him.  The  savages  screamed  in  wild 
delight.  The  fire  grew  hotter  and  hotter,  and  the 
suffering  victim,  writhing  and  twisting,  turned  him- 
self from  side  to  side.  The  first  time  the  fire  was 
kindled,  a  sudden  fall  of  rain  quenched  it;  but  after 
the  second  trial,  it  burnt  with  great  rapidity.  The 
more  he  writhed  in  his  speechless  agony,  the  louder 
the  savages  yelled  in  their  wild  delight,  and  the  more 
frantic  became  their  motions  in  their  barbaric  dances. 
He  fixed  his  thoughts  on  the  loved  ones  at  home,  and 
made  ready  to  die  whenever  the  last  moment  should 
come. 

Suddenly  a  French  officer  came  dashing  up  through' 


CAMPAIGN  OF  1758.  91 

tfie  crowd,  kicked  away  the  burning  faggots  and 
branches,  cut  the  thongs  by  which'  he  was  tied  to  the 
tree,  and  released  him.  It  was  Marin  himself.  He 
had  heard  of  these  inhuman  barbarities  of  the  Indians 
towards  their  distinguished  captive,  and  hastened  on 
to  save  him  from  the  fate  which  he  knew  awaited  him. 
Had  he  come  a  few  minutes  later,  it  would  probably 
have  been  all  over.  He  passionately  upbraided  the 
Indians  for  their  cruelty,  and  took  the  prisoner  under 
his  own  charge  for  the  rest  of  the  journey. 

Putnam  suffered  excessively  all  the  way  to  Ticon- 
deroga,  although  he  was  treated  with  kindness  and 
courtesy.  When  he  reached  that  fortress,  he  was  pre- 
sented a  prisoner  to  the  Marquis  Montcalm,  the 
French  commander,  by  whom  he  was  soon  after  sent 
under  a  proper  escort  to  Montreal.  Col.  Peter 
Schuyler  was  a  prisoner  there,  with  others  at  the 
time,  and  he  paid  Putnam  great  attention  and  civil- 
ity. It  was  through  his  influence  that  he  was  finally 
exchanged  for  a  French  prisoner,  captured  by  Col. 
Bradstreet  at  the  assault  on  Frontenac,  now  Kings- 
ton, in  upper  Canada.  In  Montreal,  too,  Major  Put- 
nam became  acquainted  with  the  lovely  prisoner, 
Mrs.  Howe,  whom  he  escorted  back  in  safety  to  her 
friends  in  New  England.  His  final  release  was 
hailed  with  joy  by  his  numerous  friends  throughout 


92  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

the  combined  English  and  provincial  army.     They 
had  never  expected  to  see  him  alive  again.* 

*  Upon  Putnam's  return  from  captivity  he  heard  for  the 
first  time  the  news  of  the  death  of  his  son  Daniel,  at 
the  age  of  seventeen.  This  death  had  occurred  August  8, 
1758,  the  very  day  the  Indians  were  dancing  around  the 
fire  by  which  they  were  roasting  the  father  alive. 

Putnam's  exchange  was  effected  by  the  finesse  of  his 
friend,  Colonel  Schuyler,  who  was  appointed  by  Abercrom- 
bie  to  negotiate  the  details  of  the  exchange.  To  Vaudreuil, 
the  French  commissioner,  he  said  with  apparent  indiffer- 
ence: "There  is  an  old  man  here  [Putnam  was  just  forty 
years  of  age]  who  is  a  Provincial  Major,  and  wishes  to 
be  at  home  with  his  wife  and  children;  he  can  do  no 
good  here  or  anywhere  else;  I  believe  your  Excellency  had 
better  keep  some  of  the  young  men,  who  have  no  wife  or 
children  to  care  for,  and  let  the  old  fellow  go  home  with 
me." 


CHAPTEE  Y. 

END  OF  THE  FRENCH  WAE. 

THE  campaign  of  1759  opened  new  prospects  to 
the  English  arms  on  this  continent.  Then  for  the 
first  time  the  ministry  saw  that  they  had  a  chance  to 
make  up  for  their  past  reverses,  and  it  gave  them 
hope  and  courage  accordingly. 

During  this  year,  Major  Putnam  was  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  Lieutenant  Colonel;  a  rank  which  no 
one  will  dispute  he  had  richly  earned  with  his  pa- 
triotic and  self-denying  services.  The  ministry  re- 
called Abercrombie,  on  account  of  his  manifest  in- 
efficiency, and  placed  in  his  stead,  General  Amherst, 
a  man  in  every  respect  his  superior,  and  well  worthy 
of  the  high  confidence  that  was  reposed  in  him. 

During  this  year  General  Wolfe  fell  on  the  Plains 
of  Abraham,  before  Quebec,  in  the  midst  of  victory. 
It  was  a  brilliant  victory  gained,  but  it  cost  the  army 
and  England  dearly.  Wolfe  was  a  commander  who 
could  be  ill  spared  from  any  army.  In  one  sense,  he 
threw  his  life  away  in  carrying  forward  this  daring 
assault  upon  Quebec,  since  he  felt  that  the  ministry 

93 


94:  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

•were  already  dissatisfied  with  one  shortcoming  of 
which  he  was  guilty,  and  he  now  wished  to  prove 
to  them  that  they  had  not  placed  their  confidence  in 
him  to  no  purpose.* 

Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point  f  likewise  fell  be- 
fore the  approach  of  Gen.  Amherst,  who  had  but 
to  make  his  appearance  before  those  most  important 
posts,  in  order  to  insure  their  ready  surrender  and 
evacuation.  The  commander  at  Ticonderoga  saw 

*  James  Wolfe  (1726-1759),  served  in  the  English  army 
in  Germany  during  several  years  of  the  Seven  Years'  War. 
Being  transferred  to  America  he  was  prominent  in  the 
capture  of  Fort  Louisbourg.  His  crowning  feat  was  the 
capture  of  Quebec,  one  of  the  most  romantic  incidents  in 
the  history  of  warfare.  At  the  taking  of  Quebec,  both  he 
and  the  French  commander,  the  Marquis  of  Montcalm, 
were  mortally  wounded. 

t  General  Amherst,  taught  by  the  disaster  that  befell 
his  predecessor,  Abercrombie,  approached  Ticonderoga  with 
the  greatest  caution.  Having  disembarked  his  forces  in  the 
neighborhood,  he  prudently  constructed  intrenchments  and 
awaited  the  arrival  of  his  cannon.  The  French  command- 
ant, accounting  prudence  the  better  part  of  valor,  evacuated 
the  fort,  having  first  ignited  a  fuse  that  was  to  explode  the 
magazine.  The  explosion  occurred  just  before  midnight, 
July  26,  1759.  Only  one  bastion  was  destroyed  and  the 
main  part  of  the  fort  was  uninjured.  Amherst's  men  soon 
entered  and  fought  the  fire  that  was  destroying  the  bar- 
racks, and  quickly  repaired  the  damage  done  to  the  fort. 
Crown  Point  was  likewise  abandoned  by  the  French  within 
a  few  days.  The  fortifications  at  this  place  had  so  fallen 
into  decay  that  Amherst  began  the  construction  of  a  new 
fort  instead  of  repairing  the  old  one.  The  French  re- 
treated to  Fort  Isle  aux  Noix  in  the  Sorel. 


END  OF  THE  FEENCH  WAR.  95 

very  soon  that  he  had  some  one  else  than  Abercrom- 
bie,  of  the  year  before,  to  deal  with,  and  capitulated 
without  offering  to  strike  a  blow. 

Putnam  accompanied  Amherst  in  his  expedition 
during  this  year  both  to  Ticonderoga  and  Crown 
Point ;  and  his  services  were  not  a  whit  behind  what 
they  had  been  heretofore  for  promptness  and  general 
value.  He  had  as  much  to  do,  personally,  as  any 
other  individual,  in  strengthening  the  works  about 
Crown  Point ;  and  superintended  them  with  his  cus- 
tomary vigilance  and  skill. 

In  1760  the  English  ministry  sent  word  over  that 
they  wished  Amherst  to  strike  one  vigorous  and  final 
blow,  and  so  reduce  the  Canadas  altogether.  Am- 
herst therefore  projected  his  famous  expedition 
against  Montreal,  which  was  now  the  only  other  im- 
portant post  to  which  attention  remained  to  be  di- 
rected. He  divided  the  army  into  three  parts;  one 
started  for  Quebec,  under  Gen.  Murray,  who  was  at 
the  head  of  the  force  before  commanded  by  the  la- 
mented Wolfe ;  a  second  moved  forward  from  Crown 
Point,  by  way  of  Isle-Aux-Noix,  under  the  command 
of  Col.  Haviland  ;  and  the  third  was  put  in  motion  by 
Gen.  Amherst  himself,  who  passed  up  the  Mohawk 
Valley,  and  thence  to  Oswego,  at  which  place  a  force 
of  a  thousand  Indians,  under  Sir  William  Johnson, 
was  added,  making  some  eleven  thousand  in  all. 


§6  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

Lieut.  Col.  Putnam  went  with  the  Commander-in- 
Chief. 

The  plan  was,  to  have  all  their  forces  arrive  before 
Montreal  upon  the  same  day,  if  possible.  Amherst 
embarked  on  Lake  Ontario,  captured  a  fort  on  his 
way,  and  happened  to  arrive  before  Montreal  on  the 
very  same  day  on  which  Gen.  Murray  reached  that 
point  from  Quebec.  It  was  a  happy  coincidence. 
What  was  still  more  fortunate,  Col.  Haviland  came 
up  with  his  Crown  Point  troops  on  the  very  next  day ! 
The  concerted  design  so  far  certainly  worked  ad- 
mirably. 

The  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil  was  in  command  at 
Montreal,  and  he  had  prepared  himself  to  withstand, 
as  he  thought,  any  assault  that  might  be  made  upon 
the  city.  But  as  soon  as  he  saw  the  vastly  superior 
army  that  had  suddenly  made  its  appearance  against 
him,  and  from  three  different  quarters  at  the  same 
time,  he  determined  to  offer  terms  of  capitulation. 
They  were  accepted  without  any  delay,  or  any  blood- 
shed, and  Montreal  became  the  possession  of  the  Eng- 
lish. From  that  day,  of  course,  the  Canadas  passed 
into  other  hands.  It  was  the  crowning  act  of  all  the 
rest.  After  so  many  trials  and  reverses,  it  had  re- 
sulted gloriously  for  the  English  arms  at  the  last. 

It  was  while  Lieut.  Col.  Putnam  was  passing  up 
with  Gen.  Amherst  to  the  attack  on  Montreal,  that 


END  OF  THE  FRENCH  WAR.  97 

he  performed  the  feat  that  is  recorded  of  him  at  the 
fort  on  Isle  Royal.  It  was  necessary  for  Amherst  to 
capture  this  fort,  since  it  would  not  be  safe  to  leave 
such  a  fortress  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy  behind  him. 
The  fort  was  named  Oswegatchie,  and  was  built  on 
the  island  at  the  entrance  of  the  river  of  the  same 
name.  Two  armed  vessels  faithfully  guarded  the 
entrance,  and  likewise  swept  the  whole  stream.  Un- 
less these  were  put  out  of  the  way,  Amherst  could  not 
hope  to  proceed. 

While  the  General  was  pondering  on  the  way  in 
which  he  could  get  out  of  his  dilemma,  Putnam  pro- 
posed to  go  and  take  the  vessels  himself.  "  How  ?  " 
asked  his  surprised  commander.  "  With  a  beetle  and 
wedges,"  answered  the  courageous  Putnam.  The 
General  knew  what  a  character  Putnam  had  proved 
himself  to  be  before,  and  gave  him  authority  to  go 
ahead,  though  he  did  not  believe  that  anything  would 
come  of  it.  Putnam  took  a  few  men  with  him  in  a 
boat,  and  after  nightfall  started  off  in  the  silence  and 
darkness.  Getting  under  the  vessels'  sterns  unper- 
ceived,  he  drove  the  wedges  in  on  each  side  of  their 
rudders,  and  thus  prevented  their  obeying  the  will  of 
any  pilot  on  deck.  Both  the  vessels  were  driven 
ashore  by  the  wind,  being  helpless  in  the  hands  of 
their  commanders,  and  struck  at  once  to  the  summons 
of  the  English  officers,  who  were  ready  to  meet  them 
7 


98  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

as  soon  as  their  crews  landed.  This  incident  has 
been  very  strongly  denied  by  many,  yet  there  is 
enough  foundation  for  it  in  fact  to  make  it  worth 
telling.* 

In  the  year  1762,  England  found  herself  consider- 
ably shorn  of  her  strength,  and  coalitions  between 
some  of  the  other  nations  of  the  continent  were  ap- 
parently forming  against  her.  Spain  was  quite  ready 
to  co-operate  with  France  in  her  endeavor  to  regain 
what  she  had  thus  far  lost  in  America.  The  colonies 
were  required  to  furnish  still  more  men  in  order  to 
meet  this  new  movement.  In  February,  1762,  the 
French  island,  Martinique,  one  of  the  West  Indies, 
was  captured  by  the  British.  The  Caribbees,  too, 
were  all  taken  by  the  same  power.  And  finally  a 
large  naval  force,  consisting  of  nearly  forty  vessels, 

*  This  story  is  accepted  as  true  by  so  careful  a  historian 
as  John  Fiske.  The  running  of  the  various  rapids  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  river  was  an  exciting  and  costly  experience. 
Forty-six  boats  were  totally  wrecked,  and  eighteen  badly 
damaged,  and  eighty-four  men  were  drowned.  Near  Mon- 
treal, at  the  seat  of  an  Indian  mission,  Putnam  found  the 
Indian  Caughnawaga,  who  had  captured  him  two  years 
before.  Of  the  meeting  between  the  erstwhile  enemies, 
Humphreys  writes:  "That  Indian  was  highly  delighted  to 
see  his  old  acquaintance,  whom  he  entertained  in  his  well 
built  stone  house  with  great  friendship  and  hospitality; 
while  his  guest  did  not  discover  less  satisfaction  in  an  op- 
portunity of  shaking  the  brave  savage  by  the  hand  and 
proffering  him  protection  in  this  reverse  of  his  military 
fortunes." 


END  OF  THE  FRENCH  WAR.  99 

and  counting  ten  thousand  men,  were  sent  against 
Havana.  They  succeeded  in  landing  upon  the  island 
of  Cuba,  but  could  not  make  any  headway.  A  pesti- 
lence broke  out  among  the  troops,  to  whom  the  tropi- 
cal climate  was  entirely  unsuited,  and  in  less  than 
two  months  more  than  half  of  their  number  were 
swept  off. 

Reinforcements,  however,  came  along  in  good  time 
from  the  colonies,  consisting  of  over  two  thousand 
men  in  all,  of  whom  Connecticut  alone  furnished  one 
thousand  under  command  of  Gen.  Lyman.*  He  hav- 
ing afterwards  been  appointed  commander  of  the  en- 
tire Provincial  force,  Lieut.  Col.  Putnam  accordingly 
took  command  of  the  Connecticut  regiment.  They 
experienced  very  severe  weather  on  their  way  to 
Cuba,  and  the  ship-load  under  Putnam  was  finally 
wrecked  off  the  coast.  Putnam  displayed  all  his  cus- 
tomary coolness  during  the  gale,  giving  orders  to 
the  men,  and  preserving  strict  discipline  throughout 
the  fearful  scene.  The  men  constructed  rafts,  which 
were  launched  and  sent  ashore  successfully.  By  the 
aid  of  the  line  thus  secured  to  the  land,  the  rafts  were 
kept  going  and  coming  to  and  from  the  ship,  and  all 
the  troops  were  at  length  landed  in  safety.  Putnam 

*  General  Lyman  was  a  valuable  officer.  His  death  in 
1775  prevented  his  taking  an  important  part  in  the  war  of 
the  Revolution. 


100          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

constructed  fortifications  for  his  camp,  and  waited 
until  the  storm  subsided,  when  the  troops  re-em- 
barked, and  in  a  few  days  arrived  at  Havana. 

The  harbor  of  this  famous  ocean  city  is  defended 
by  two  forts ;  on  the  east,  the  Morro,  and  on  the  west, 
the  Punto.  The  British  commander,  Albemarle,  be- 
sieged the  former  with  nearly  fifteen  thousand  men. 

The  siege  was  protracted,  and  put  the  soldiers  to 
their  highest  endurance.  After  overcoming  many 
and  fearful  obstacles,  they  succeeded  in  effecting  a 
lodgment  in  a  certain  part  of  the  fortress,  when  they 
sprung  a  mine  previously  prepared  and  threw  down 
enough  of  the  masonry  to  give  them  a  chance  to  enter. 
The  work  of  storming  was  then  carried  forward  with 
vigor  and  success.  About  five  hundred  of  the  sur- 
prised Spanish  garrison  were  killed,*  and  the  rem- 
nant were  forced  to  beg  for  quarter,  which  of  course 
was  granted. 

Having  thus  obtained  possession  of  this  fortress, 
which  had  hitherto  been  deemed  impregnable,  the 
British  were  able  to  command  the  city,  against  which 
they  accordingly  pointed  their  cannon.  The  gov- 
ernor general  refused  to  surrender,  whereupon  Lord 
Albemarle  opened  a  fire  upon  the  town.  This  speed- 
ily brought  his  Excellency  to  terms.  He  offered  to 
accept  such  terms  of  capitulation  as  the  British  might 

*  The  English  loss  was  only  two  officers  and  thirty  men. 


END  OF  THE  FRENCH  WAR.  101 

see  fit  to  propose.  The  harbor  and  city  of  Havana, 
together  with  about  a  quarter  of  the  whole  island  of 
Cuba  thus  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British,  whose 
arms  were  afterwards  properly  respected  by  the 
powers  that  had  dared  to  combine  against  them.* 
From  this  day,  peace  began  to  assume  a  permanent 
character  on  this  continent,  for  which  the  harassed 
colonies,  that  had  all  the  while  been  heroically  fight- 
ing the  battles  of  the  mother  country,  were  not  the 
least  grateful,  f 

It  was  now  a  century  and  a  half  that  this  struggle 

*  The  lion's  share  of  the  prize  money  went  mostly  to  the 
higher  officers,  but  the  subordinates  got  something,  and  Put- 
nam received  enough  to  increase  substantially  his  apparent 
fortune  in  the  little  town  of  Pomfret.  For  an  account  of 
the  grant  of  land  to  the  veterans,  which  was  allowed  several 
years  later,  see  below,  p.  44. 

Putnam  also  brought  home  with  him,  as  a  trophy  of  the 
war,  a  negro,  Dick  by  name,  whom  he  had  rescued  from  a 
cruel  beating  at  the  hands  of  an  angry  Spanish  master. 
The  grateful  negro  would  not  leave  his  rescuer  and  was  a 
picturesque  sight  about  Pomfret  for  many  years.  Among 
the  spoils  of  this  encounter  was  the  cane  which  the  Span- 
iard had  used  as  the  instrument  of  chastisement.  This 
cane  was  used  by  Putnam  until  his  death,  and  he  be- 
queathed it  to  Dick  who  was  deservedly  proud  of  it. 

t  The  Treaty  of  Paris  was  signed  February  10,  1763.  By 
this  treaty  France  ceded  to  England  (among  other  terri- 
tories) "  Nova  Scotia,  Canada,  and  the  country  east  of  the 
Mississippi  as  far  as  Iberville,  Louisiana.  A  line  drawn 
through  the  Mississippi  river,  from  its  source  to  its  mouth, 
was  henceforth  to  form  the  boundary  line  between  the 
possessions  of  the  two  nations,  except  that  the  town  and 
island  of  New  Orleans  were  not  to  be  included  in  this 


102         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

had  been  going  on  between  France  and  England  for 
the  mastery  of  this  continent.  It  had  finally  been  de- 
cided in  favor  of  the  latter  power;  and  it  was  now 
expected  that  France  would  acquiesce,  and  that  war 
would  come  to  an  end.  The  Indians  were  not  sup- 
posed to  be  interested  in  continuing  the  warfare,  since 
neither  nation  would  be  likely  any  longer  to  require 
their  services.  Yet  this  opinion  proved  to  be  a  mis- 
taken one.  They  had  a  yearning  desire  to  regain  the 
lands  they  had  lost  to  the  white  race,  and  so  made  a 
final  stand  for  that  purpose.  The  colonial  govern- 
ors held  repeated  conferences  with  some  of  the  In- 
dian chiefs,  and  tried  to  pacify  them  by  assuring 
them  of  their  friendship ;  but  the  red  men  did  not  like 
the  looks  of  the  forts  with  which  the  English  were 
encircling  their  territories.  Accordingly  several  of 
the  tribes  concerted  to  make  a  vigorous  attack  upon 
their  common  enemy,  and  did  succeed  in  surprising 
and  capturing  a  number  of  their  forts ;  some  of  them 
of  great  importance.  At  the  head  of  this  warlike 
movement  was  the  well-known  Indian  chief,  Pon- 
tiac.* 

cession.  France  also  ceded  the  island  of  Cape  Breton, 
with  the  isles  and  coasts  of  the  St.  Lawrence." 

*Pontiac  (17127-1769)  was  a  chief  of  the  Ottawa  tribe. 
He  was  the  leader  of  this  coalition  of  Indian  tribes  against 
the  English,  and  the  war  that  resulted  is  known  as  Pon- 
tiac's  War, 


END  OF  THE  FRENCH  WAR:  103 

Under  his  lead,  the  savages  intended  to  extend 
their  power  along  the  line  of  the  great  lakes,  grad- 
ually surrounding  the  English  and  hemming  them  in. 
Amherst  thereupon  hastened  to  concentrate  his  forces 
at  the  several  forts  on  the  frontier,  and  made  ready  to 
repel  them.  Captain  Dalzell  made  his  way  through 
the  forest  to  the  fort  at  Detroit,  which  was  already 
surrounded  by  the  Indians;  after  which,  he  sallied 
forth  again  and  gave  them  battle,  in  the  early  gray 
of  the  morning.  In  his  generous  and  brave  endeavor 
to  rescue  one  of  his  wounded  officers,  he  was  shot 
by  the  enemy,  and  they  both  fell  dead  together. 

The  next  year,  Col.  Putnam  went  to  the  frontier 
with  a  Connecticut  regiment,  which  consisted  of  four 
hundred  men.  In  this  expedition,  also,  went  Brant, 
the  famous  Indian  partisan.  The  savages  still  sur- 
rounded Detroit,  preventing  the  garrison  from  mov- 
ing out  at  all,  by  which  means  they  had  become  sadly 
reduced  in  provisions  and  energy.  A  little  schooner 
had  been  sent  with  a  load  of  provisions  to  their  relief, 
which  was  attacked  fiercely  by  the  Indians,  but  had 
managed  by  good  luck  to  escape.  With  the  timely 
help  thus  offered,  the  commander  was  able  to  hold  out 
until  reinforcements  arrived.  As  soon  as  the  savages 
were  assured  that  these  latter  were  approaching,  they 
began  to  disperse  through  the  forest,  afraid  to  risk 
a  battle.  In  the  course  of  the  same  season,  too,  a  per- 


104:          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

manent  peace  was  finally  made  with  them,  and  thus 
the  terrors  of  war  ceased  over  the  land. 

Col.  Putnam  wrote  a  letter  from  the  frontier  to  a 
friend  in  Xorwich,  Connecticut, — Major  Drake, — 
setting  forth  the  condition  of  affairs  at  the  time  in 
the  camp.  It  is  exceedingly  interesting,  and  contains 
a  lively  record  of  the  transactions  in  his  locality.  It 
was  published  in  the  Boston  Gazette,  in  December, 
1764. 

The  wars  having  happily  come  to  an  end,  and 
all  rumors  of  wars  having  ceased  throughout  the 
land,  Col.  Putnam  found  himself  once  more  settled 
peacefully  upon  his  Connecticut  farm,  rejoiced  to 
return  to  those  pleasanter  pursuits  that  are  especially 
delightful  to  men  tired  of  the  profession  of  arms. 
He  had  been  an  active  soldier  for  ten  years.  He  had 
no  knowledge  of  military  science,  or  strategy,  when 
he  began,  but  when  he  returned  again  to  the  peaceful 
pursuits  of  agriculture,  he  was  in  possession  of  an  ex- 
perience that  was  worth  all  the  strictly  technical  dis- 
cipline in  the  world.  In  fact,  he  had  thus  impercep- 
tibly been  training  for  that  other  and  wider  field  on 
which  he  appeared  to  such  advantage,  and  whereon  he 
achieved  such  deeds  of  high  renown, — the  battle-field 
of  the  American  Kevolution. 

What  he  had  learned  by  this  rough  and  rugged  ex- 
perience of  the  seven  years'  war,  was  all  his  own.  It 


END  OF  THE  FRENCH  WAR.  105 

was  worth  everything,  hoth  to  himself  and  his  coun- 
try. It  was  around  such  a  man  that  his  fellow  citi- 
zens would  be  likely  to  rally  in  an  emergency  like 
that  which  arose  a  little  more  than  ten  years  after- 
wards. He  could  inspire  them  by  his  ardor,  and  en- 
thusiasm, and  patriotic  purpose, — and  he  could  also 
hold  them  together  in  solid  and  resistless  masses,  by 
the  naked  power  of  his  character,  his  example,  and 
his  will. 

He  had  not  been  home  long,  when  his  wife  sick- 
ened and  died.  It  was  a  terrible  blow  for  him,  and 
the  grief  that  grew  out  of  it  gnawed  sorely  at  his 
manly  heart.  She  was  the  wife  of  his  youth.  They 
had  lived  together  as  man  and  wife  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century.  It  was  a  cruel  snapping  asunder,  therefore, 
of  the  tenderest  ties  that  can  hold  two  human  souls 
together.* 

*  The  death  of  Putnam's  daughter  Elizabeth,  In  her 
eighteenth  year,  occurred  January  24,  1765.  Mrs.  Putnam 
died  on  the  6th  day  of  April  following.  These  afflictions 
seem  to  have  awakened  the  religious  feelings  of  Putnam, 
for  he  united  with  the  Congregational  church,  May  19,  of 
the  same  year. 


CHAPTER  VL 

OPENING  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 

IT  is  to  be  supposed,  at  this  day,  that  every  one 
•who  can  read  understands  the  causes  that  led  the 
American  people  to  take  up  arms  against  the  mother 
country.  They  had  sacrificed  everything  for  the  sake 
of  preserving  her  honor ;  they  had  generously  fought 
her  battles;  her  name  and  renown  were  as  dear  to 
them  as  it  could  be  to  a  son  of  England  born : — but 
the  same  spirit  that  made  them  such  devoted  sons, 
rendered  it  likewise  impossible  for  them  to  be  craven 
suppliants,  begging  for  favors. 

King  George  the  Third  was  possessed  of  an  idea 
that  the  American  colonies  were  chiefly  useful  to 
his  throne  for  the  revenues  which  they  could  be  made 
to  pay  into  the  royal  treasury.  Both  himself  and  his 
successive  cabinets  entertained  that  mistaken  idea, 
and  attempted  to  practice  upon  it  in  administering 
the  government  for  their  foreign  colonies.  And  out 
of  this  very  mistake  grew  the  American  Revolution. 
It  began  with  a  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  at  first ;  then 
followed  protests ;  next,  talk  of  outright  refusal  to  do 

106 


OPENING  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  107 

what  was  commanded ;  then  the  refusal  itself,  which 
was  rebellion ;  and  finally  the  great  and  simultaneous 
movement  assumed  the  dignified  form  and  character 
of  a  Kevolution.  This  same  American  Kevolution 
marks  one  of  the  brightest  and  most  hallowed  spots 
on  the  page  of  History. 

In  the  first  place,  the  British  ministry  had  caused 
to  be  issued  what  were  styled  Writs  of  Assistance, 
which  were  ordered  for  the  purpose  of  hunting  up  and 
seizing  wherever  found,  any  articles  that  had  been 
smuggled  into  the  colonies  from  on  ship-board,  with- 
out paying  the  tax  imposed  on  them.  Several  of  the 
eloquent  and  bold  orators  of  the  day,  including  such 
men  as  Otis  and  Adams,  fiercely  denounced  the  high- 
handed measure,  and  counselled  public  disobedience 
of  the  order.  As  a  necessary  result,  such  goods  as 
were  found  to  have  been  brought  into  the  colonies 
without  having  paid  the  regular  duties,  were  at  once 
seized,  wherever  found,  and  sold;  which  would  be 
likely  rather  to  add  to  the  flame  of  public  feeling 
already  burning,  than  to  assist  in  allaying  its  fervent 
heat. 

It  was  Grenville  who  first  laid  the  plan  to  di- 
rectly tax  the  American  colonies,  who  was  at  the  time 
King  George's  prime  minister.  Everywhere  the  prop- 
osition was  met  with  the  most  indignant  denuncia- 
tions. But  all  this  seemed  to  make  no  difference.  In- 


108          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

asmuch  as  the  people  of  America  had  determined  that 
it  was  both  odious  and  wrong  that  they  should  be 
taxed  for  the  benefit  of  the  mother  country,  the  min- 
istry determined  in  their  blind  obstinacy  that  they 
should  be  taxed  all  the  sooner  for  having  dared  to  ex- 
press their  opinions.  It  was  a  matter  of  will,  from 
the  beginning.  The  English  government  meant  to 
rule  the  people  of  the  colonies  by  the  mere  strength 
of  its  will.  But  after  many  long  years,  and  a  weary 
struggle  against  obstacles  whose  force  the  world  will 
never  fully  understood,  that  imperious  will  was  hum- 
bled and  broken.  The  people  triumphed,  as,  with  the 
right  on  their  side,  they  ever  must  prevail. 

The  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act,*  in  the  year  1765, 
brought  the  matter  to  something  like  a  head.  As 
soon  as  the  news  was  received  in  this  country,  the  ex- 

*  The  well  known  Stamp  Act  was  passed  in  1765.  This 
was  a  species  of  internal  revenue,  and  required  that  all 
bills,  leases,  and  many  other  such  documents  used  in  the 
colonies,  should  be  written  on  stamped  paper  to  be  sold  only 
by  officers  of  the  English  government.  The  tax  was 
not  excessive,  it  was  certainly  less  than  the  British  sub- 
jects residing  in  England  paid  cheerfully.  But  the  Ameri- 
cans at  once  went  to  the  heart  of  the  matter  and  denied 
the  right  of  parliament  to  tax  them  at  all.  The  Stamp  Act 
was  simply  the  last  straw;  it  broke  the  back  of  the  endur- 
ance of  the  colonists,  it  brought  them  to  the  fighting  point. 
All  through  the  colonies  the  cry  was  raised,  "  No  taxation 
without  representation,"  and  the  cry  was  never  silenced. 
That  principle  lay,  and  still  lies,  at  the  foundation  of 
American  independence. 


OPENING  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  109 

citement  and  indignation  knew  no  bounds.  The  cit- 
izens of  Boston  and  Philadelphia  caused  the  bells  to 
be  tolled,  in  token  of  their  grief.  The  people  of  IsTew 
York  marched  in  procession  through  the  streets,  bear- 
ing a  copy  of  the  odious  Act,  with  the  representation 
of  a  death's  head  attached  to  it,  before  them,  to  which 
they  appended  the  motto — "  The  Folly  of  England, 
and  the  Ruin  of  America."  The  stamped  papers  that 
were  sent  over,  were  seized  and  destroyed;  and  the 
agents  of  the  government,  who  were  appointed  to  ex- 
ecute the  law,  were  forced  to  throw  up  their  offices. 

Col.  Putnam  entered  into  the  general  spirit  of  re- 
sistance to  such  tyrannical  exactions,  with  all  the 
ardor  of  his  warm  and  honest  nature.  He  was  active 
in  stirring  up  his  fellow  citizens  on  all  sides  to  re- 
sistance. He  likewise  forwarded,  by  every  means  in 
his  power,  the  plans  that  were  formed  among  the  col- 
onies for  harmony  of  action  in  this  most  important 
matter.* 

Mr.  Ingersoll  had  been  appointed  the  stamp  mas- 
ter for  Connecticut;  and  Putnam,  with  others,  was 

*  A  patriotic  secret  society  was  about  this  time  estab- 
lished among  the  workingmen,  known  as  the  Sons  of  Lib- 
erty. Of  this  society  Putnam  was  a  very  energetic  member, 
and  he  used  the  society  as  a  very  effective  means  of  dis- 
seminating far  and  wide  the  hostility  against  the  Stamp 
Act.  It  is  said  that  he  had  control  of  ten  thousand  armed 
men,  who  had  "  pledged  to  the  utmost  lives  and  fortunes  to 
prevent  the  Stamp  Act  being  enforced." 


110         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

determined  not  to  let  him  enter  upon  the  duties  of 
his  office.  The  committee  who  waited  upon  him,  re- 
quested him  to  resign ;  but  as  he  did  not  answer  them 
with  a  Yes  or  a  No,  they  proceeded  to  take  steps  to 
make  him  comply  with  their  wishes.  Putnam  was 
an  active  adviser  in  the  entire  movement.  He  had  re- 
cently been  laid  up  by  an  accident  himself,  but  he 
gave  particular  directions  how  to  proceed.  A  body 
of  men  were  collected  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  col- 
ony, who  marched  to  Hartford,  where  they  were 
told  that  Mr.  Ingersoll  would  be  present  on  the  follow- 
ing day.  He  was  reported  to  be  then  on  his  way 
from  New  Haven.  Instantly  the  party  started  off 
to  meet  him  by  the  way.  They  came  upon  him  at 
Wethersfield,  where  they  made  him  sign  his  own  res- 
ignation, and  certify  likewise  that  he  did  so  "  of  his 
own  free  will  and  accord,  and  without  any  equivoca- 
tion or  mental  reservation."  They  then  stood  him 
on  a  table,  compelled  him  to  read  aloud  the  paper  he 
had  just  signed,  and  afterwards  to  shout  three  times 
— "  Liberty  and  Property !  "  The  crowd  responded 
with  due  heartiness,  honored  him  with  a  public  din- 
ner, and  then  escorted  *  him  in  safety  to  Hartford, 

*  This  Mr.  Ingersoll  did  not  fail  to  utter  a  grim  joke  upon 
this  occasion.  The  horse  which  he  rode  was  white,  and  the 
cavalcade  that  escorted  him  presented  a  motley  appearance. 
Referring  to  this  incongruous  scene,  he  declared  that  he 
now  understood  the  meaning  in  the  book  of  Revelation  (vi: 


OPENING  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  Hi 

where  he  publicly  read  his  resignation  a  second  time, 
to  the  delight  and  satisfaction  of  everybody  who  had 
turned  out  to  hear  it.  There  was  not  the  least  hard 
feeling  over  it,  but  the  whole  transaction  was  relished 
as  a  capital  joke, — which  it  certainly  was;  besides 
being,  likewise,  a  determined  piece  of  business. 

Col.  Putnam  subsequently  had  a  personal  inter- 
view with  the  colonial  Governor  respecting  the  im- 
possibility of  enforcing  so  hateful  an  act  of  parlia- 
ment, which  was  perfectly  characteristic  of  the  in- 
trepid temper  of  the  man.  The  Governor  asked  Put- 
nam what  he  should  do  with  the  stamped  paper,  if  it 
should  be  entrusted  to  him  by  the  King's  authority. 
"  Lock  it  up,"  answered  Putnam,  "  and  give  us  *  the 
key."  His  excellency  wished  to  know  what  next. 
"  We  will  send  you  the  key  safely  again,"  said  Put- 
nam. "  But  if  I  should  refuse  you  admission  to  the 
room  where  it  is  kept  ?  "  asked  the  Governor.  "  Then 
we  shall  tear  down  your  house  for  you !  "  replied  the 
determined  hero  of  the  seven  years'  war.  The  story 
of  this  interview  of  Putnam  with  the  Governor  got 
abroad,  and  no  stamped  paper  was  ever  sent  into 
the  Connecticut  colony.  So  loud  were  the  protests, 
and  so  open  was  the  defiance  exhibited  on  the  part  of 

8)  which  describes  "  Death  on  a  pale  horse  and  hell  follow- 
ing him  !  " 

*  Us  refers  to  the  Sons  of  Liberty, 


112          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

the  colonists,  that  the  ministry  finally  concluded  to 
review  their  former  determination,  and  the  Stamp 
Act  was  accordingly  annulled.  As  soon  as  the  wel- 
come news  reached  this  country,  the  change  in  the 
public  feeling  was  too  marked  not  to  be  heeded  with 
thoughtful  care  by  the  ministry.  Thanksgivings  and 
rejoicings  were  offered  on  every  side.  Gladness 
beamed  from  every  countenance.  The  talk  of  the 
people  was  now  of  their  renewed  affection  for  Eng- 
land and  the  King,  and  the  general  heart  settled  down 
into  the  calm  joy  that  attends  upon  peace. 

Trade  instantly  revived,  and  prosperity  reigned. 
So  violent  a  storm  was  succeeded  by  so  placid  a 
calm,  that  it  makes  one  happy  even  at  this  distant 
day  to  contemplate  it.  Col.  Putnam  resumed  his 
usual  occupations  on  his  farm  again,  and  in  their 
pursuit  reaped  the  rich  rewards  that  attend  upon  in- 
telligent and  contented  labor.  He  met  with  one 
or  two  quite  severe  accidents,*  during  this  season  of 
peace,  from  which  he  never  wholly  recovered.  It  was 
at  this  time,  too,  that  he  added  the  calling  of  inn- 
keeper to  that  of  a  farmer,  and  gave  public  notice  that 
he  was  ready  to  accommodate  the  travelling  public  in 

*  The  first  of  these  accidents  was  the  loss  of  the  first  joint 
of  the  thumb  of  his  right  hand.  Scarcely  had  this  healed 
when  he  sustained  a  compound  fracture  of  his  right  thigh. 
This  never  properly  healed,  for  his  right  leg  was  ever  after 
nearly  an  inch  shorter  than  his  left. 


OPENING  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  H3 

the  most  faithful  way  he  knew  how ;  and  a  very  popu- 
lar host  he  proved  himself,  too.*  People  were  fond 
of  partaking  of  the  generous  cheer  with  which  he  al- 
ways made  their  coming  welcome.  He  hung  out  his 
sign  from  one  of  the  elm  trees  before  his  door,  upon 
which  was  represented  General  Wolfe — the  youthful 
hero  of  Quebec — in  military  uniform,  with  his  right 
arm  pointing  at  something  in  the  distance,  and  a  most 
earnest  and  enthusiastic  expression  upon  his  face. 
This  sign  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Historical 
Society  of  Connecticut,  at  their  rooms  in  Hartford. 

*  On  June  3,  1767,  Putnam  married  Mrs.  Gardiner.  It 
was  her  third  marriage  as  it  was  his  second,  and  each 
party  brought  to  the  other  a  goodly  brood  of  grown,  or  half- 
grown,  children.  Of  the  new  life  thus  begun,  Ellen  D. 
Lamed  thus  writes:  "  Mrs.  Putnam  had  a  large  circle  of 
friends  and  much  experience.  Her  husband  was  the  most 
popular  man  of  the  day.  Their  hospitable  home  drew 
throngs  of  visitants.  Every  soldier  passing  through  Wind- 
ham  County  would  go  out  of  his  way  to  call  on  his  beloved 
Colonel.  Relatives,  friends,  travelling  ministers,  distin- 
guished strangers,  and  gushing  patriots  came  in  such  num- 
bers that  their  entertainment  became  very  burdensome.  A 
Virginian  Jefferson  would  submit  to  such  an  invasion, 
though  it  made  him  bankrupt;  a  Yankee  Putnam  could 
contrive  to  turn  it  into  profit  or  at  least  save  himself  from 
ruin.  Finding  that  his  estate  could  not  support  such  an 
excessive  outlay,  Putnam  met  the  emergency  with  one  of 
his  sudden  strokes,  removed  his  residence  to  the  Avery 
estate  on  Brooklyn  Green  [Brooklyn  now  adjourns  Pom- 
fret  on  the  south,  but  at  that  time  it  formed  part  of  Pom- 
fret]  and  opened  his  house  for  general  public  accommoda- 
tion." 

8 


114:          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

The  iron  staples  are  still  to  be  seen,  driven  into  the 
old  tree  that  waves  its  green  crown,  every  summer, 
before  the  place  where  stood  his  hospitable  mansion.* 
Gen.  Lyman,  the  old  commander  of  Putnam,  went 
to  England  about  these  times,  to  draw  the  prize 
money  that  belonged  to  the  men  who  served  under 
him  in  the  expedition  against  Havana.  After  many 
years'  vexatious  delay,  he  finally  succeeded  in  pro- 
curing the  amount  due  them,  and  returned  home.  A 
few  of  the  officers  had  it  in  their  minds  to  take  their 
money  and  purchase  a  tract  of  land  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. Putnam  accordingly  joined  the  party,  and 
started  off  into  the  wilderness  to  locate  his  purchase 
with  the  rest.f  They  sailed  to  the  site  upon  which 

*  Putnam  helped  to  build  the  meeting  house  which  still 
stands  there.  He  was  appointed  sexton,  a  position  which 
at  that  time  must  have  been  regarded  as  a  decided  honor. 
His  salary  was  three  pounds  for  the  year,  and  his  chief 
duties  were  to  ring  the  bell  on  Sabbaths'  Fasts,  Thanks- 
givings, and  at  Lectures  as  is  customary  at  other  places 
where  they  have  bells;  also  to  ring  it  at  12  o'clock  noon, 
and  9  at  night." 

t  During  this  trip  Putnam  kept  a  dairy,  which  is  still  in 
existence  and  is  interesting  for  more  reasons  than  one.  A 
few  entries  are  here  transcribed  without  change  in  the 
spelling,  for  the  edification  of  the  reader.  The  month  is 
December  of  1772.  The  "  heal  gait "  in  the  first  entry 
stands  for  Hell  Gate. 
"  Sunday  ye  20 

pased  heal  gait  and  had  all  like  to  have  ben  lost  by 
reason  of  a  bad  pilot  but  got  through  Wei — Arrived  at 
New  york  about  12  aclock — in  the  afternone  went  to  hear 


OPENING  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  H5 

New  Orleans  now  stands,  pushed  up  the  Mississippi, 
laid  out  the  boundaries  of  their  new  colony,  and  re- 
turned home  again  to  take  the  necessary  steps  to  send 
forward  emigrants.  General  Lyman  did  return  to 
the  place  the  next  year,  and  founded  a  settlement 
where  Natchez  stands  to-day.  Here  he  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  his  days.  Putnam  sent  forward  men  for 
a  time  in  his  stead,  and  furnished  them  with  means 
to  bring  his  own  portion  of  the  lands  speedily  under 
cultivation.  But  other  work  was  in  immediate  re- 
serve for  him,  than  that  of  leading  forth  a  young 
colony  to  the  banks  of  the  father  of  waters.  Events 
were  thickening,  and  causes  were  ripening,  and  every 
sign  gave  promise  that  some  great  epoch  in  history 
was  close  at  hand. 

Doctor  rogos  preach 

Monday  ye  21 

Capt.  Laidley  and  Capt.  Godrich  Sat  about  rigeng  and 

Loding  ye  vesel 

tusday  ye  22 

it  proved  varey  raney  so  that  thare  was  but  leatel  to 

be  don 

Wednesday  ye  23 

good  weathor  all  hands  at  worke  preparing  the  vesel 

thorsday  24 

varey  raney  and  Durtey  weather  but  leatel  Don 

friday  ye  25 

crismos  day — nothing  to  be  Don  hear — not  so  much  as 

is  gineraley  one  Sunday  in  this  part  of  ye  World 

Satorday  ye  26 

Days  heare." 


116          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

Although  it  could  be  urged  that  the  odious  Stamp 
Act  had  been  repealed,  yet  the  British  Parliament 
passed  a  declaratory  act,  to  the  effect  that  the  mother 
country  had  the  right  to  tax  the  colonies,  which  right 
she  should  exercise  just  when  she  saw  proper.  Mr. 
Pitt  was  laid  up  with  the  gout  at  his  country  seat, 
and  Mr.  Townsend,  who  was  chancellor  of  the  Ex- 
chequer in  his  absence,  brought  forward  a  bill  to  levy 
duties  on  paper,  glass,  painters'  colors,  and  teas.  He 
also  proposed  a  measure  which  aimed  to  appoint 
boards  of  trade  in  the  different  colonies,  entirely  in- 
dependent of  the  colonial  legislatures ;  which  was  as 
offensive  as  any  measure  of  the  sort  well  could  be. 

To  these  plans  the  people  of  America  showed  as 
much  resistance  as  ever.  They  began  to  get  ready  to 
oppose  them,  if  the  necessity  finally  came,  with  force 
itself.  The  men  of  experience,  therefore,  like  Col. 
Putnam,  took  great  interest  in  organizing  and  drill- 
ing bands  of  young  men,  feeling  that  the  time  was 
not  far  off  when  soldiers  would  be  chiefly  needed. 
This  was  in  the  year  1767.  The  orators  and  leading 
men  exerted  all  their  influence  to  arouse  the  people 
to  a  true  sense  of  their  degradation  and  wrongs.  As- 
sociations were  formed  all  over  the  country,  to  fur- 
ther the  plans  of  resistance.  The  people  refused  to 
have  any  intercourse  whatever  with  the  mother  coun- 
try. The  women  denied  themselves  everything  like 


OPENING  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  H7 

foreign  luxuries  and  exerted  themselves  to  make  up 
clothing  with  their  own  hands  for  their  .sons,  hus- 
bands, and  fathers.  A  spirit  of  opposition  pervaded 
all  classes  of  society.  Even  tea  was  interdicted,  by 
general  agreement,  from  the  table,  because  the  women 
would  not  drink  what  would  help  establish  the  power 
of  England.  The  excitement  grew  greater  every  day. 
The  crisis  was  approaching.  One  thought  seemed  to 
control  the  public  mind, — one  resolve  fired  the  popu- 
lar heart. 

The  British  government  of  course  began  now  to 
bear  down  all  the  harder.  They  stationed  soldiers  in 
the  halls  where  the  colonial  legislatures  met,  in  order 
to  break  up  their  sittings.  But  these  bodies  imme- 
diately assembled  in  other  places,  with  still  stronger 
determination  to  resist  the  tyranny  of  the  mother 
country.  The  troops  goaded  the  colonists  almost  be- 
yond endurance.  At  last  an  outbreak  did  occur  in 
King  street  in  Boston, — now  State  street, — on  the 
5th  of  March,  1770 ;  when  the  soldiery  fired  upon  the 
citizens,  and  killed  several ;  the  first  person  who  fell 
was  a  stout  mulatto  fellow  at  the  head  of  a  party  of 
sailors,  whose  name  was  Crispus  Attucks.  Two 
others  were  killed  on  the  spot,  and  two  more  died  a 
few  days  afterward.  There  had  been  trouble  brew- 
ing for  some  time  between  the  town  people  and  the 
soldiers,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  day  just  mentioned 


118          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

the  first  outbreak  occurred.  Early  the  next  morning, 
Faneuil  Hall  was  crowded  with  excited  citizens,  who 
determined  that  every  foreign  soldier  should  be  with- 
drawn immediately  from  Boston.  Xo  men  were 
more  bold  in  their  denunciations  of  the  soldiery  than 
James  Otis  and  Samuel  Adams.  This  event  occurred 
on  Friday  night;  the  citizens  met  at  Faneuil  Hall 
on  Saturday  morning;  and  on  the  Monday  following 
the  troops  were  withdrawn  and  sent  to  Castle  Wil- 
liam, in  the  harbor,  and  the  city  became  composed 
and  quiet  again.  There  were  most  imposing  ceremon- 
ies at  the  burial  of  the  victims  of  this  sudden  fight, 
and  the  "  Boston  Massacre  "  was  a  bloody  story  that 
served  to  stir  still  more  deeply  the  hearts  of  the  peo- 
ple to  open  resistance. 

General  Gage  was  the  Royal  Governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts Province  at  this  time,  and  was  well  known 
to  Putnam  during  the  French  and  Indian  war. 
There  were  others  also  in  Boston,  whom  he  had  in- 
timately known  by  means  of  the  same  companionship. 
He  was  frequently  there  about  these  days,  and  during 
the  prevalence  of  the  troubles  that  ushered  in  the  Rev- 
olution. His  voice  was  heard  on  all  important  oc- 
casions, not  more  by  his  own  countrymen  than  by 
the  British  officers  with  whom  he  had  before  been  a 
companion  in  arms.  He  openly  counselled  one 
party  to  resistance,  and  he  expostulated  with  the 


OPENING  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  H9 

other,  but  to  no  purpose.  The  British  officers  asked 
him  on  which  side  he  should  be  found,  in  case  it 
should  come  to  open  war.  "  I  shall  be  found  on  the 
side  of  my  country  always !  "  — was  his  prompt  and 
spirited  reply.  They  inquired  of  him  again,  how 
large  an  army  it  would  take  to  conquer  the  country; 
in  other  words,  if  five  thousand  soldiers  could  not 
march  the  length  and  breadth  of  it,  and  not  be 
troubled  by  the  inhabitants  ?  "  If  they  behaved  them- 
selves, they  could,"  was  his  answer ;  "  but  if  they 
did  not,  and  no  men  were  at  hand,  the  American 
women  would  drive  them  out  of  the  country  with 
broomsticks !  "  * 

As  the  difficulties  increased,  and  less  and  less  grew 
the  probabilities  that  there  could  for  a  much  longer 
time  be  kept  up  even  the  appearance  of  peace  with  the 
mother  country,  committees  of  vigilance  were  or- 

*  The  account  of  this  affair  as  narrated  by  Humphreys, 
who,  it  will  be  remembered,  received  his  information  di- 
rect from  Putnam,  is  more  striking  than  the  one  given 
above : — 

"  Being  once,  in  particular,  asked  '  whether  he  did  not 
seriously  believe  that  a  well  appointed  British  army  of 
five  thousand  veterans  could  march  through  the  whole 
continent  of  America? '  he  replied  briskly,  '  no  doubt,  if 
they  behaved  civilly,  and  paid  well  for  everything  they 
wanted;'  'but' — after  a  moment's  pause  added — 'if  they 
should  attempt  it  in  a  hostile  manner  (though  the  Ameri- 
can men  were  out  of  the  question)  the  women,  with  their 
ladles  and  broomsticks,  would  knock  them  all  on  the  head 
before  they  had  got  half  way  through.' " 


120          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

ganized  in  the  different  colonies,  whose  duty  it  was 
to  hold  frequent  correspondence  with  one  another, 
acquaint  the  different  sections  of  the  country  with 
what  was  going  on,  and  perfect  such  schemes  for  re- 
sistance as  might  finally  be  of  the  greatest  service. 
Col.  Putnam  was  very  efficient  upon  one  of  these  com- 
mittees in  Connecticut,  and  kept  the  people  thor- 
oughly apprised  of  what  was  going  forward.  Besides 
this,  he  gave  much  time  to  organizing  the  men  about 
him  into  companies,  and  to  drilling  them  to  the  stern 
service  which  was  so  soon  to  be  required  at  their 
hands.  On  one  occasion,  in  September,  1774,  he  was 
the  means  of  creating  a  false  alarm,  which  called  out 
the  people  all  along  the  line  between  New  York  and 
Boston,  so  that  the  roads  were  covered.  The  story 
was  that  blood  had  been  shed  in  Boston  by  the  British 
troops,  and  every  heart  beat  warmly  to  avenge  the 
public  wrongs.  It  is  said  that  as  many  as  thirty  or 
forty  thousand  men  flew  instantly  to  arms,  believing 
that  the  British  were  firing  upon  the  town  of  Boston. 
Gen.  Gage  saw  what  an  excitement  the  rumor  had 
created,  and  knew  from  this  the  temper  of  the  colon- 
ists ;  and  therefore  concluded  to  fortify  himself  in  his 
position  without  further  delay.  The  moment  this 
alarm  was  given,  Col.  Putnam  mounted  his  horse  and 
started  off  for  Boston ;  but  being  met  on  the  way  by 
a  captain  of  militia,  he  learned  that  the  whole  story 


OPENING  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  121 

was  false,  and  turned  about  and  rode  home  again, 
.reaching  his  house  at  sunrise  on  Sunday  morning. 
The  rumor  grew  out  of  the  British  force  having  si- 
lently sailed  up  the  Mystic  river  during  the  night, 
and  carried  off  all  the  powder  that  was  stored  in  the 
arsenal  at  Charlestown. 

When  the  conflict  with  the  power  of  England  fin- 
ally came  on,  it  was  not  even  then  supposed  by  the 
colonists  that  it  would  involve  their  total  separation 
from  the  mother  country;  indeed,  they  had  not  once 
seriously  thought  of  such  a  result,  except  to  deplore 
it.  They  merely  resolved  to  resist,  perhaps  believ- 
ing that  England  would  in  time  relent  in  her  tyranni- 
cal demands,  and  give  them  enduring  peace  and  pros- 
perity. Still,  let  the  consequences  be  what  they 
might,  they  would  at  least  resist.  And  while  show- 
ing such  a  spirit,  the  King  resolved  that  they  should 
be  forced  into  submission.  It  is  not  at  all  likely  that 
British  statesmen  generally  knew  or  cared  much 
about  the  feelings  of  the  people  of  this  country ;  nor 
did  the  King,  or  his  ministers,  know  or  care  any 
more.  The  whole  plan  was  to  extort  money  enough 
from  the  ISTorth  American  colonies  to  assist  in  defray- 
ing the  enormous  expenses  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment. The  debates  in  Parliament  on  the  state  of 
America  were  very  meagre,  showing  that  scarcely  any 


122          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

interest  was  taken  in  the  question,  that  was  at  all 
commensurate  with  its  importance. 

Troops  were  quartered  wherever  the  British  power 
thought  their  presence  necessary.  The  difficulties  be- 
gan in  Boston.  Gen.  Gage  having  occupied  the  town 
with  his  soldiers,  and  broken  up  the  Assembly  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, it  met  elsewhere,  and  styled  itself  a  Prov- 
incial Congress.  Committees  of  Safety  were  ap- 
pointed, and  it  was  instantly  voted  to  raise  an  army 
of  twelve  thousand  men.  Minute  men  were  also  en- 
rolled, to  be  ready  to  march  at  a  moment's  warning. 
Arms  and  ammunition  were  secured  as  rapidly  as  cir- 
cumstances would  allow.  While  affairs  were  in  this 
situation,  Gen.  Gage  despatched  an  expedition  of 
eight  hundred  men  to  Concord,  twenty  miles  from 
Boston,  to  destroy  the  ammunition  and  stores  that 
were  known  to  be  there  collected.  This  was  the  night 
of  the  18th  of  April,  1775.  He  was  very  secret  in 
his  operations,  yet  not  so  secret  as  to  elude  the  vigi- 
lance of  the  colonists,  who  were  so  closely  watching 
them.  Messages  were  despatched  to  points  all  along 
the  route  they  would  be  likely  to  take,  directing  that 
measures  should  be  instantly  taken  to  oppose  them. 

When  the  British,  who  were  commanded  by  Col. 
Smith  and  Major  Pitcairn,  reached  Lexington,  which 
is  about  half-way  between  Boston  and  Concord,  it 
was  just  day-dawn  on  the  19th.  They  were  of  course 


OPENING  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  123 

very  much  astonished  to  find  a  handful  of  ^Americans 
— seventy  in  all — drawn  up  on  the  green  to  offer 
them  resistance.  Major  Pitcairn  rode  up  before  them 
and  called  out  in  a  tone  of  authority,  thinking  to  in- 
timidate them, — "  Disperse,  you  rebels !  Throw 
down  your  arms,  and  disperse !  "  But  they  paid  no 
heed  to  his  order;  whereupon  he  discharged  his  own 
pistol,  and  ordered  his  troops  to  fire  into  them.  His 
order  was  instantly  obeyed,  and  four  of  the  Ameri- 
cans fell  dead.  The  remainder  rapidly  scattered,  of 
whom  three  more  were  slain  in  climbing  over  the 
fences.  But  they  did  not  flee.  They  were  joined  by 
others,  and  very  soon  large  bodies  of  militia  were 
gathered  in  the  vicinity,  determined  on  making  fur- 
ther resistance.  The  British  force  hurried  on  to 
Concord,  captured  a  portion  of  the  stores  they  found 
there,  and  retreated  again  as  fast  as  they  could,  know- 
ing that  the  whole  country  round  was  getting  thor- 
oughly excited  against  them.  They  had  a  slight  skir- 
mish at  Concord,  during  which  two  of  the  American 
and  three  of  the  British  soldiers  were  killed,  and 
several  more  were  wounded.  It  was  at  the  old  North 
bridge,*  and  the  spot  is  now  pointed  out  to  travellers 

*  Emerson  has  written  no  finer  lines  than  the  opening 
stanza  of  his  hymn  on  the  Concord  Fight: 

"  By  the  rude  bridge  that  arched  the  flood, 

Their  flag  to  April's  breeze  unfurled, 
Here  once  the  embattled  farmers  stood, 
And  fired  the  shot  heard  round  the  world." 


124         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

where  two  of  the  three  British  soldiers  were  slain, 
and  where  they  still  lie.  They  succeeded  in  destroy- 
ing a  considerable  amount  of  stores,  and  broke  open 
sixty  barrels  of  flour,  of  which  they  took  pains  to 
waste  as  much  as  they  could.  They  likewise  cut  down 
the  liberty-pole  in  the  town,  and  set  the  court-house 
on  fire;  but  a  woman  put  out  the  fire  before  much 
damage  had  been  done. 

Meantime  the  militia  were  collecting  as  fast  as 
they  could  from  all  the  towns  around.  So  that  when 
the  British  set  out  on  their  march  back  to  Boston, 
they  found  themselves  harassed  in  every  conceivable 
way.  From  behind  walls,  and  trees,  and  fences,  and 
wherever  other  concealments  offered,  the  Americans 
poured  in  a  steady  and  well-directed  fire  upon  them, 
which  was  terribly  galling  and  destructive.  The 
roadsides  seemed  to  belch  fire  at  their  retreating  and 
rapidly  thinning  ranks.  Every  tree  concealed  a  mus- 
ket. They  could  not  see  their  enemy  so  as  to  take 
aim  at  them,  and  were  therefore  placed  at  every  pos- 
sible disadvantage.  So  rapid  was  the  increase  of  the 
Americans,  and  so  closely  did  they  follow  up  the  re- 
treating body  of  the  British,  that  Col.  Smith  resolved 
to  get  back  to  Boston  now  with  all  possible  despatch. 
At  Lexington  there  was  another  severe  skirmish,  and 
so  tired  and  jaded  were  the  British,  they  thought 
they  would  be  obliged  to  surrender. 


OPENING  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  125 

Fortunately  for  them,  however,  an  express  had 
been  sent  back  to  Gen.  Gage  in  Boston,  as  soon  as 
the  British  commander  arrived  at  Lexington  in  the 
morning,  acquainting  him  with  the  astonishing  fact 
that  the  whole  country  was  already  in  arms.  So  that 
when  they  reached  Lexington  again  on  their  return 
from  Concord,  they  were  saved  from  surrender,  or 
total  destruction,  only  by  the  timely  coming  up  of 
the  nine  hundred  men  whom  Gen.  Gage  had  sent 
forward  in  such  hot  haste.  This  detachment,  which 
was  commanded  by  Lord  Percy,  met  the  fatigued 
British  about  half  a  mile  beyond  Lexington.  It  was 
between  two  and  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  As 
soon  as  they  had  formed  a  hollow  square  and  re- 
ceived the  retreating  troops  within  its  protecting 
lines,  the  latter  fell  down  upon  the  ground  from 
sheer  exhaustion,  panting  and  lolling  their  tongues 
out  of  their  open  mouths.  After  resting  and  refresh- 
ing themselves,  both  parties  started  on  again  for  Bos- 
ton. They  went  out  of  their  way  to  destroy,  by  burn- 
ing, two  houses,  two  shops,  and  a  barn,  in  Lexington, 
and  then  pushed  on.  But  the  provincials  had  been 
fast  gathering,  each  man  fighting  for  himself,  and 
getting  ready  to  pour  in  their  fire  again  as  soon  as 
the  British  should  resume  their  march.  Pitcairn's 
horse  was  shot  under  him,  and  his  pistols  he  was 
forced  to  leave  behind  in  their  holsters.  They  after- 


126         MFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

wards  came  into  Gen.  Putnam's  possession.  Their 
loss  was  very  severe,  all  the  way.  At  West  Cam- 
bridge they  had  another  skirmish  with  the  Americans, 
in  which  Dr.  Joseph  Warren,  afterwards  Gen.  War- 
ren, came  near  being  shot ;  the  ball  knocking  the  pin 
out  of  an  ear-curl  in  his  hair.  The  British  sacked, 
pillaged,  and  murdered,  all  along  their  bloody  route 
to  Boston.  They  came  near  being  cut  off  entirely  by 
reinforcements  of  the  militia  before  they  could  reach 
Charlestown;  but  they  at  last  succeeded  in  securing 
their  safety.  They  camped  on  Bunker  Hill  that 
night,  and  on  the  next  day  went  over  to  Boston,  con- 
siderably broken  in  spirits,  and  convinced  that  an 
army  of  British  could  not  march  through  the  country 
unmolested. 

On  that  19th  of  April,  17Y5,  the  British  lost  in  all 
two  hundred  and  seventy-three  men,  of  whom  sixty 
were  slain;  the  provincials  lost  one  hundred  and 
three,  of  whom  fifty-nine  were  killed.  It  was  not  a 
great  fight  in  itself,  but  it  was  great  and  even  grand 
in  its  consequences.  On  that  day  a  Nation  was  born. 
Then  the  freemen  of  America  learned,  for  the  first 
time,  how  to  stand  and  fight  for  their  own  liberties. 
An  authentic  statement  of  these  occurrences  was 
drawn  up  by  the  American  Committee,  and  des- 
patched by  a  vessel  from  Salem  direct  to  London. 
The  latter  city  was  soon  in  as  wild  an  excitement,  al- 


OPENING  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  127 

most,  as  Boston  was  at  the  same  moment.  The  min- 
istry were  openly  taunted  in  the  streets,  and  told  that 
"  the  Great  British  army  at  Boston  had  been  beaten 
by  a  flock  of  Yankees!  " 

The  news  of  the  battles  of  this  memorable  day  flew 
on  the  wings  of  the  wind  through  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  country.  A  man  came  riding  through 
the  quiet  town  of  Pomfret  on  horse-back,  bearing  a 
drum  about  his  neck,  and  beating  it  and  calling  out  to 
all  whom  he  met, — "  To  arms !  To  arms !  the  first 
blood  has  been  shed  at  Lexington !  "  Putnam  was 
ploughing  in  the  field,  at  some  distance  back  from  his 
house,  at  the  time,  and  Capt.  Hubbard  was  also  at 
work  in  the  next  lot.  As  soon  as  they  found  what 
was  the  cause  for  the  alarm,  they  set  out  for  the  place 
where  their  services  would  be  most  likely  to  be 
wanted.  Hubbard  walked  home,  got  ready  his  mili- 
tary accoutrements,  and  started  off  for  Boston  in  his 
own  systematic  and  moderate  way.  Putnam  had  his 
little  son  with  him  in  the  field.  He  at  once  unyoked 
his  oxen  and  took  them  out  of  the  furrow  they  were 
plowing,  sent  word  to  his  wife  by  the  boy  where  he 
had  gone,  took  his  fastest  horse  from  his  barn,  and 
rode  away  at  such  a  pace  as  we  should  have  expected 
from  a  man  of  his  well-known  character.* 

*  Daniel  Putnam,  then  fifteen  years  old,  was  with  his 
father,  plowing  in  the  field  when  the  news  of  the  battle 


128          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

On  the  21st  he  was  at  Cambridge,  where  he  at- 
tended a  council  of  war  that  was  suddenly  called  to 
provide  for  the  emergency.  By  that  time,  there  were 
at  least  twenty  thousand  American  troops  gathered 
around  Boston.  It  was  resolved  to  fortify  all  the  en- 
trances to  the  town  without  delay,  and  to  watch  the 
movements  of  the  British  very  closely.  Putnam  was 
sent  for  by  the  Connecticut  Legislature,  which  was 
then  in  session  at  Hartford,  to  confer  with  them.  He 
hastened  back,  therefore,  for  that  purpose.  A  regi- 
ment of  troops  was  at  once  organized,  and  Putnam 
put  at  their  head,  with  the  title  of  Brigadier  General. 
He  hurried  back  to  Cambridge,  having  been  absent 
only  a  week.  Several  who  served  with  him  in  the 
French  war,  now  joined  their  services  with  his  again 
in  the  struggle  for  independence. 

Gen.  Ward  was  commander-general  of  all  the 
forces,  though  such  an  old  and  tried  soldier  as  Put- 
nam was  looked  up  to  with  great  respect  and  confi- 
dence by  the  whole  body  of  the  hastily  collected  mil- 

of  Lexington  arrived.  He  afterwards  said  that  his  father 
"  loitered  not  but  left  me,  the  driver  of  his  team,  to  un- 
yoke it  in  the  furrow,  and  not  many  days  after  to  follow 
him  to  camp."  Putnam  started  off  instantly  and  without 
stopping  to  change  his  clothes.  He  thus  must  have  worn 
his  farmer's  working  shirt.  Trumbull,  and  others  who 
have  painted  him  as  at  Bunker  Hill,  are  correct  in  repre- 
senting him  in  his  shirt  sleeves,  but  wrong  in  giving  him 
a  white  shirt. 


OPENING  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  129 

itia.  It  is  proved  that  these  two  generals  for  a  brief 
time  divided  the  responsibility  between  them  as  they 
best  could.  Ward,  too,  had  served  along  with  Put- 
nam at  the  unfortunate  storming  of  Ticonderoga, 
under  Gen.  Abercrombie;  and  thus  strangely  were 
they  brought  together  again.  The  British  officers  did 
the  best  they  could  to  bribe  over  the  leading  Ameri- 
cans. To  Putnam  they  offered  the  rank  of  Major 
General  in  the  British  army,  a  large  sum  of  money, 
and  generous  provision  for  his  boys  in  the  future. 
But  his  honest  spirit  spurned  all  their  offers.  He 
was  not  poor  enough  to  consent  to  take  bribes  against 
the  liberties  of  his  own  countrymen. 

Gage  offered  to  let  the  Americans,  who  were  still 
living  in  Boston,  depart,  on  condition  they  would  give 
up  their  arms ;  but  as  soon  as  they  had  complied  with 
his  terms,  he  refused  to  keep  his  word.  This  only 
exasperated  the  militia  so  much  the  more.  It  was  re- 
solved now  to  erect  a  line  of  fortifications  all  around 
Boston,  stretching  from  Dorchester  Heights  to  Chel- 
sea, a  distance  of  about  twelve  miles.  Into  this  work 
Gen.  Putnam  threw  himself  with  all  his  usual  energy. 
He  had  become  well  advanced  in  years  by  this  time,* 
but  his  heart  beat  as  quick  as  that  of  many  men  not 
half  as  old  as  he.  The  intrenchments  were  all  thrown 

*  He  was  fifty-seven  years  of  age.  His  continued  activity 
on  the  farm  and  elsewhere  kept  his  frame  supple. 

9 


130          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

up,  and  every  care  taken  neither  to  allow  a  British 
soldier  to  pass  through  them  from  out  of  Boston,  nor 
any  supplies  to  be  carried  in.  They  therefore  held 
the  British  in  the  town  in  a  regular  state  of  siege. 

Putnam  sent  a  party  of  thirty  men,  on  the  27th 
of  May,  over  from  Chelsea  to  Hog  Island,  to  capture 
what  live  stock  was  there,  that  it  might  not  be  of  ser- 
vice to  the  British  for  food.  The  water  was  not  deep, 
and  the  men  all  waded  over,  and  began  to  drive  off  the 
cattle.  A  party  of  marines  were  stationed  there,  how- 
ever, and  a  fight  of  course  ensued  with  them.  A 
schooner  was  at  once  sent  from  the  fleet  in  the  harbor, 
to  help  repel  the  bold  American  militia.  But  the 
party  managed  to  secure  their  prize,  and  retreated  in 
good  order  and  with  safety.  Putnam  afterwards 
joined  them  with  a  larger  force,  and  after  nine  o'clock 
in  the  evening  they  brought  a  single  cannon  to  bear  on 
the  schooner,  completely  disabling  her,  so  that  she 
drifted  on  shore ;  and  at  day-break  they  took  whatever 
there  was  valuable  on  board  of  her,  and,  after  plac- 
ing hay  under  her  stern,  set  her  on  fire.  The  British 
were  deeply  chagrined  to  see  one  of  their  vessels  thus 
captured  and  burned  by  a  little  force  on  the  land,  but 
they  were  unable  to  help  themselves.  By  this  single 
manoeuvre,  the  Americans  carried  away  many  hun- 
dred sheep  and  cattle.* 

*  "  I  wish,"  said  Putnam  to  Generals  Ward  and  Warren. 


OPENING  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  131 

On  the  6th  of  June,  it  was  agreed  that  an  exchange 
of  prisoners  should  be  effected  between  the  two  arm- 
ies. Gen.  Putnam  and  Dr.  Warren  acted  on  behalf 
of  the  Americans,  and  received  the  British  party  at 
Charlestown  at  about  noon.*  They  marched  under 
escort  to  the  ferry,  and  upon  a  signal  being  given, 
Major  Small  and  Major  Moncrief,  together  with  their 
prisoners,  landed  from  the  British  vessel.  Putnam 
had  served  with  these  British  officers  in  the  French 
and  Indian  war.  They  had  not  met  since  those  for- 
mer days  of  hardship  and  intimacy.  The  moment 
they  landed,  therefore,  they  forgot  all  else,  and  rushed 
into  one  another's  open  arms.  They  embraced  and 
kissed  each  other,  while  the  people  stood  around  and 
wondered  what  so  strange  a  spectacle  could  mean. 
They  afterwards  passed  an  hour  or  two  in  social  con- 

"  we  could  have  something  of  this  kind  to  do  every  day; 
it  would  teach  our  men  how  little  danger  there  is  from 
cannon  balls,  for  though  they  have  sent  a  great  many  to 
us,  nobody  has  been  hurt  by  them.  I  would  that  Gage 
and  his  troops  were  within  our  reach,  for  we  would  be 
like  hornets  about  their  ears;  as  little  birds  follow  and 
tease  the  eagle  in  his  flight,  we  would  every  day  contrive 
to  make  them  uneasy." 

*  Putnam  was  highly  gratified  that  Gage  should  have 
consented  to  an  exchange  of  prisoners.  "  He  may  call  us 
Rebels  now;  if  he  will,"  said  he,  "but  why  then  don't  he 
hang  his  prisoners  instead  of  exchanging  them?  By  this 
act  he  has  virtually  placed  us  on  an  equality,  and  acknowl- 
edged our  right  of  resistance." 


132          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

verse,  at  the  house  of  a  gentleman  near  by,  and  at 
nightfall  separated  to  meet  again  in  hostile  array, 
only  ten  days  later,  on  the  heights  of  Bunker  Hill! 
So  fierce  is  war,  and  so  relentless  is  it  in  its  de- 
mands. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

BATTLE  OF  BUNKER  HILL. 

IT  became  necessary  now  for  the  Americans  to  for- 
tify Dorchester  and  Charlestown  Heights,  inasmuch 
as  it  had  been  given  out  that  the  British  general  had 
resolved  to  do  it  himself.  They  could  gain  a  great 
advantage,  if  they  could  by  their  celerity  get  the  start 
of  the  British.  The  enemy  evidently  meant  to 
strengthen  their  position  by  occupying  Charlestown 
Heights,  from  which  they  could  easily  make  an  ir- 
ruption into  the  surrounding  country. 

A  council  of  war  was  therefore  held  at  Cambridge, 
at  which  it  was  finally  decided,  though  not  all  were 
in  favor  of  the  plan,  to  march  over  to  Charlestown  by 
night  and  hastily  throw  up  a  fortification.  Putnam 
favored  the  design  with  all  his  influence  and  argu- 
ments. He  urged,  in  the  first  place,  that  it  would 
astonish  the  enemy  to  find  themselves  thus  unex- 
pectedly outwitted ;  and,  in  the  next  place,  that  even 
if  it  brought  on  an  engagement,  a  battle  would  be  the 
best  possible  thing  for  the  militia  that  were  then  col- 
lected. They  would  rapidly  learn  discipline  under 

133 


134          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

fire,  and  their  ranks  would  close  up  with  true  military 
compactness  from  that  day  forward.* 

It  was  objected  to  this  proposal,  that  there  were 
then  but  sixty-seven  barrels  of  powder  to  the  whole 
army ;  and  that  it  would  be  hardly  less  than  insanity 
to  bring  on  a  general  engagement,  with  such  a  trif- 
ling amount  of  ammunition.  But  Putnam  pleaded  to 
have  the  experiment  tried.  He  feared  nothing  for  the 
result.  He  knew  very  well  that  the  Americans  were 
all  good  marksmen,  and  that  every  soldier  could  kill 
his  man.  Gen.  Warren  tried  to  argue  him  out  of 
his  opinion;  but  Putnam,  knowing  what  he  did  of 
war  and  its  results  to  an  undisciplined  force,  was  con- 
vinced that  a  smart  brush  with  the  enemy  would  lead 
to  the  happiest  consequences. 

Orders  were  therefore  given  by  Major  General 
Ward, — who  was  the  commander  of  the  Massachu- 
setts forces,  and  so  by  courtesy  of  the  whole  forces 
that  were  assembled  around  Boston, — to  Col.  Pres- 
cott,  to  go  over  to  Charlestown  on  the  night  of  the 
16th  of  June,  and  throw  up  such  hasty  intrenchments 


*  •Daniel  Putnam  reports  that  he  had  often  heard  his 
father  say  that  his  experience  had  taught  him  that  raw 
and  undisciplined  troops  must  be  employed  in  some  way  or 
other,  or  they  would  soon  become  vicious  and  unmanage- 
able. His  maxim  was,  "  It  is  better  to  dig  a  ditch  every 
morning  and  fill  it  up  at  evening  than  to  have  the  men 
idle." 


BATTLE  OF  BUNKER  HILL.  135 

as  would  defy  the  efforts  of  the  British  army  to  dis- 
lodge the  soldiers  within  them.  A  thousand  men. 
were  placed  under  his  command.  It  was  Friday  even- 
ing. Before  leaving,  that  night,  to  go  upon  their 
hazardous  errand,  they  gathered  on  the  common  in 
the  centre  of  the  town  of  Cambridge,  where  prayers 
were  offered  to  Heaven  on  their  behalf  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  Harvard  College.* 

Gen.  Putnam  undertook  the  supervision  of  the  ex- 
pedition, although  the  work  to  be  done  was  placed  di- 
rectly in  the  hands  of  Col.  Prescott.  Whenever,  in- 
deed, this  memorable  battle  is  spoken  of  by  the  people 
of  this  country,  it  will  have  to  be  admitted  that  these 
two  men,  above  all  others, — Putnam  and  Prescott, — 
began  and  carried  forward  the  work  which  on  that 
day  was  so  gloriously  done.  Putnam  had  a  young 
son,  named  Daniel,  who  was  in  the  camp  with  him  as 
a  volunteer.  He  told  the  boy  to  go  to  Mrs.  Inman's, 
that  night,  which  was  the  farm-house  where  his  quar- 
ters were ;  f  and  if  it  should  be  necessary  to  leave  on 

*  Samuel  Langdon. 

t  General  Putnam's  headquarters  were  in  the  Borland 
homestead,  in  Cambridge,  opposite  the  place  where  Gore 
Hall,  of  Harvard  University,  now  stands.  Most  of  the  Con- 
necticut troops  were  quartered  on  the  Inman  farm.  Its 
owner,  Ralph  Inman,  an  ardent  Tory,  was  at  the  time  In 
Boston  seeking  personal  safety  in  the  protection  of  the 
British  troops.  Mrs.  Inman  naturally  feared  that  the 
"  rebel "  soldiers  might  give  vent  to  their  feelings  by  the 


136          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

the  next  day,  to  depart  with  the  rest  without  wait- 
ing for  him.  The  boy  mistrusted  that  some  great 
danger  impended  over  his  father,  and  begged  to  be 
permitted  to  go  along  with  him.  "  You  can  do  noth- 
ing where  I  am  going,  my  son,"  said  the  brave  father. 
"  There  will  be  plenty  who  will  take  care  of  me." 

It  was  very  soon  after  dark  that  Prescott  began  his 
march  from  Cambridge  over  the  narrow  neck  formed 
by  the  Charles  and  Mystic  rivers, — a  passage-way 
which  was  only  about  a  hundred  and  thirty  yards 
across.  The  men  moved  on  in  perfect  silence,  and 
the  only  lights  they  had  to  see  by  were  a  few  dark 
lanterns,  which  threw  the  light  backwards,  instead 
of  forward.  Every  possible  precaution  was  taken 
against  discovery.  Bunker  Hill  stands  nearest  the 
neck,  and  is  a  hundred  and  ten  feet  high.  Breeds 
Hill  is  near  the  southern  extremity  of  Charlestown 
peninsula,  and  only  sixty-two  feet  in  height.  The 
distance  between  these  two  hills,  on  their  summits,  is 
one  hundred  and  thirty  rods. 

The  troops  first  came  to  the  foot  of  Bunker  Hill, 
where  they  found  the  intrenching  tools  all  ready  for 

destruction  of  the  property,  and  therefore  applied  to  Gen- 
eral Putnam  for  protection.  The  General  to  relieve  her 
fears,  not  only  posted  guards  about  the  house,  but  directed 
his  young  son  Daniel  to  lodge  with  the  family.  It  was 
thus  Daniel,  not  his  father,  whose  quarters  were  at  the 
Inman  farm-house. 


BATTLE  OF  BUNKER  HILL.  137 

their  use,  having  been  already  sent  over  in  wagons. 
Until  that  moment,  in  fact,  none  but  the  leaders  knew 
for  what  purpose  the  expedition  had  been  undertaken. 
The  order  was  to  fortify  Bunker  Hill ;  but  it  was  very 
apparent  that  it  would  be  of  little  use  to  do  that,  un- 
less Breed's  Hill  were  fortified  also,  since  the  latter 
hill  most  immediately  commanded  the  town  of  Bos- 
ton. The  leaders  consulted  what  it  was  best  to  do. 
Bunker  Hill  could  easily  be  reached  by  the  guns  from 
the  enemy's  ships  near  the  neck,  and  at  the  same 
time  it  could  not  effect  much  damage  to  them  in  re- 
turn. It  was  at  length  resolved  to  disobey  the  strict 
letter  of  the  instructions,  and  to  fortify  the  height 
which  was  nearest  the  city.  Col.  Gridley  undertook 
the  engineering  part  of  the  labor,  which  certainly  re- 
quired more  skill  than  all  the  rest.  He  was  obliged 
to  hasten  their  conference  several  times,  telling  them 
that  the  night  was  fast  slipping  away,  and  that  every 
moment  was  of  priceless  value. 

When  they  finally  reached  Breed's  Hill, — which 
has,  ever  since  that  day,  taken  the  immortal  name  of 
Bunker  Hill, — Col.  Gridley  laid  out  his  plans,  ran 
his  quick  eye  over  the  ground,  and  set  the  men  to 
work  with  their  picks  and  spades  with  all  their  en- 
ergy. It  was  full  midnight  before  a  single  shovel-full 
of  earth  was  thrown  up.  As  it  was  summer  time,  the 
nights  were  quite  short,  and  by  four  o'clock  in  the 


138          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

morning  it  would  be  day-break.  Hence  there  were 
but  four  short  hours  for  the  men  to  do  their  work. 
But  they  fell  to  with  wonderful  alacrity  and  vigor, 
stimulated  still  more  by  the  examples  that  were  set 
them  by  their  leaders.  Prescott  knew  very  well  how 
to  handle  a  spade,  and  so  did  Putnam,  who  had  not 
served  for  seven  years  around  Lake  George  against 
the  French  and  Indians,  without  taking  such  an  in- 
strument in  his  hands  very  frequently.  Xever  were 
men  known  to  labor  more  eagerly  than  did  these  men. 
They  were  working  for  their  very  lives,  and  that  they 
knew.  They  had  taken  only  rations  enough  with 
them  to  last  for  one  day,  and  hence  they  felt  obliged 
to  throw  up  protection  against  the  assaults  of  the 
enemy  in  Boston,  which  would  furnish  them  with 
the  surest  reliance. 

The  redoubt  was  constructed  upon  the  top  of  the 
hill,  and  was  eight  rods  square.  Its  southern  side 
fronted  the  village  of  Charlestown,  and  was  most 
strongly  fortified,  because  that  quarter  was  thought 
to  be  most  liable  to  the  enemy's  attack.  Eastward  it 
fronted  an  open  field,  which  extended  down  to  Mor- 
ton's Point.  A  breastwork  was  thrown  up,  as  if  it 
were  a*  continuation  of  this  eastern  side  of  the  re- 
doubt, but  still  separated  from  it  by  a  narrow  pas- 
sage, which  was  screened  by  what  was  termed  a 
"  blind  "  in  front.  Another  passage,  or  gateway,  like- 


BATTLE  OF  BUNKER  HILL.  139 

•wise  opened  from  the  rear  wall  of  the  redoubt,  con- 
ducting down  the  hill. 

The  officers  several  times  during  the  night  stole 
softly  down  to  the  water's  edge,  to  discover  if  the 
enemy  had  been  alarmed  by  their  operations  on  the 
hill ;  they  could  hear  the  cry — "  All's  well !  "  passed 
from  one  ship  to  another  by  the  sentries,  over  the  still 
surface  of  the  water.  Finding  matters  going  on  so 
well,  Gen.  Putnam  hurried  back  during  the  night  to 
Cambridge,  to  make  the  needful  preparations  for  the 
struggle  which  he  too  well  knew  must  come  on  the 
next  day. 

Morning  dawned  slowly,  finding  the  men  still  en- 
gaged about  their  work  on  the  hill.  It  was  a  still 
day,  in  the  very  flush  and  pride  of  the  new  summer. 
The  British  looked  upon  the  heights,  and  were  filled 
with  amazement.  In  one  brief  night  a  work  had  been 
done, — and  done  so  silently,  too,  that  no  soul  of  them 
all  had  caught  a  sound  of  what  was  going  on, — 
which  compelled  the  British  army  either  to  evacuate 
Boston,  or  to  sally  out  and  offer  immediate  battle. 
They  had  not  given  the  raw  American  militia  credit 
for  so  much  energy  and  alacrity.  Their  own  plans 
were  by  this  single  act  completely  frustrated.  The 
British  officers  held  a  council  of  war  at  once,  and  de- 
termined to  send  a  body  of  regular  troops  over  to  the 
hill  with  all  possible  despatch,  to  dispossess  the  de- 


140          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

fiant  Americans.  And  while  the  necessary  arrange- 
ments to  this  end  were  being  carried  forward,  a  brisk 
cannonading  was  opened  and  kept  up  from  the  ves- 
sels of  war,  and  from  Copp's  Hill,  upon  the  workers 
on  the  height. 

Putnam's  spirit  took  fire  with  the  first  sound  of  the 
hostile  cannon  in  the  morning.  He  mounted  his 
horse  forthwith,  and  rode  over  the  neck  at  the  top  of 
his  speed.  Prescott  was  still  there  in  the  redoubt, 
working  hard  himself,  and  cheering  and  inspiring  the 
men  both  by  his  words  and  by  his  example.  They 
could  distinctly  see  the  streets  of  Boston  from  the 
height,  and  descry  the  British  troops  forming  and 
marching,  and  making  ready  for  the  conflict  which 
they  now  knew  was  at  hand.  The  American  soldiers 
were  pretty  thoroughly  wearied  with  their  severe  and 
uninterrupted  night's  work,  and  some  of  the  officers 
proposed  to  send  to  Cambridge  for  reinforcements. 
"  No,"  answered  Prescott,  with  promptness ;  "  they 
have  thrown  up  the  works  themselves,  and  it  is  but 
fair  to  give  them  a  chance  to  defend  them."  Such 
talk  of  course  infused  a  new  ardor  and  courage  into 
their  ranks.  A  messenger  was,  however,  sent  over 
to  Cambridge  for  refreshments. 

As  soon  as  Putnam  saw  what  was  certain  to  come, 
he  again  posted  off  to  Cambridge,  asking  Major  Gen- 
eral Ward  for  reinforcements,  against  the  hour  of 


BATTLE  OF  BUNKER  HILL. 

need;  but  the  latter  refused  to  forward  any,  not  yet 
satisfied  that  it  was  not  the  design  of  the  British  to 
land  at  Lechmere's  Point,  assail  the  camp  at  Cam- 
bridge, and  so  cut  off  the  body  of  Americans  in 
Charlestown  altogether.  He  had  substantial  reasons 
for  believing  this  to  be  their  leading  design.  Hence 
he  refused  to  send  Putnam's  Connecticut  regiment  up 
to  the  hill  at  all.  Putnam  therefore  had  his  atten- 
tion divided  between  Bunker  Hill  and  his  own  post 
at  Inman's  Farm,  which  it  was  equally  necessary  for 
him  to  maintain. 

Not  until  he  was  finally  convinced  of  the  intention 
of  the  enemy  to  attack  Charlestown  heights,  did  he 
concentrate  all  his  energies  on  what  was  there  going 
forward.  He  took  a  handful  of  men,  and  tried  to 
throw  up  intrenchments  on  Bunker  Hill,  where  they 
had  paused  to  decide  which  hill  should  be  fortified, 
the  night  before.  Could  this  have  been  done,  they 
could  have  commanded  Breed's  Hill,  even  after  the 
latter  had  been  taken  by  the  enemy.  But  the  action 
came  on  so  soon  that  they  were  obliged  to  give  over 
their  design,  and  hasten  on  to  the  help  of  their  friends 
at  the  redoubt  on  Breed's  Hill. 

Between  twelve  and  one  o'clock,  with  a  burning 
sun  high  in  the  heavens,  a  force  of  nearly  three  thou- 
sand of  the  best  men  of  the  British  army  began  to 
land  at  Morton's  Point,  in  twenty-eight  barges,  aU 


142          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

under  command  of  Gen.  Howe.  They  halted  as  they 
came  to  the  shore,  waiting  to  rest  and  refresh  them- 
selves, and  to  be  strengthened  by  the  detachments  as 
fast  as  they  could  be  brought  over.  Their  rich  uni- 
forms and  well-kept  arms  glittered  and  flashed  in  the 
bright  sunlight,  and  created  a  most  imposing  appear- 
ance. It  was  soon  reported  in  Cambridge  that  the 
British  had  begun  to  land,  and  the  excitement  was 
truly  intense.  The  drums  beat,  the  bells  were  tolled, 
and  the  soldiers  were  instantly  hurrying  in  every  di- 
rection. It  was  nearly  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, — 
and  Saturday,  too, — when  the  reinforcements  all  ar- 
rived, making  the  British  army  about  four  thousand 
strong.  They  were  all  regular  and  tried  troops,  that 
had  seen  service  before ;  on  the  contrary,  the  Ameri- 
cans were  but  raw  recruits,  and  looked  on  with  feel- 
ings of  doubt  as  to  the  result,  though  with  nothing 
like  fear.  The  latter,  too,  were  nearly  exhausted  with 
hunger  and  thirst ;  and  what  was  worse,  they  began 
to  entertain  a  half  suspicion  that  they  had  been  placed 
in  their  present  position  in  order  to  be  sacrificed. 

Putnam  took  the  general  command  outside  of  the 
redoubt,  overseeing  the  arrangements  of  the  men,  and 
taking  due  advantage  of  all  favorable  circumstances. 
Warren,  who  was  President  of  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress, heard  of  the  landing  of  the  British,  while  he 
was  in  Watertown ;  and  sick  as  he  was,  hurried  off  to 


BATTLE  OF  BUNKER  HILL.  143 

take  a  part  in  the  battle.  Brave  old  Col.  Pomeroy, 
too,  the  moment  he  caught  the  echoes  of  the  cannon- 
ading from  the  vessels  of  war,  in  the  forenoon,  bor- 
rowed a  horse  of  General  Ward  and  rode  down  to  the 
neck;  and  seeing  the  galling  fire  with  which  it  was 
raked  from  the  vessels,  he  dismounted  and  deliber- 
ately walked  the  whole  distance  through  the  whizzing 
balls,  unwilling  to  risk  the  value  of  the  borrowed 
animal,  but  caring  nothing  for  his  own  life.  Warren 
went  on  the  hill,  and  offered  himself  to  Gen.  Putnam 
as  a  common  soldier.  The  General  expostulated  with 
him,  begging  him  to  take  himself  away  again,  for  his 
services  were  more  needed  in  another  place.  But 
Warren  would  hear  nothing  to  it.  Neither  would  he 
consent  to  assume  anything  like  command.  He  went 
into  the  redoubt  where  Prescott  was,  and  shouldered 
his  musket  with  tha  common  soldiers.  Prescott  of- 
fered to  transfer  all  authority  to  his  hands,  but  the 
latter  would  not  consent.  He  went  to  do  simply  a 
soldier's  duty  on  that  important  day. 

The  British  army  began  to  advance  with  great  reg- 
ularity and  order.  Previous  to  this,  Gen.  Howe  had 
ordered  his  artillery  to  play  against  the  American 
lines,  and,  by  a  signal  already  agreed  upon,  caused 
a  hot  fire  to  be  directed  against  the  redoubt  from  the 
guns  on  Copp's  Hill  and  the  vessels  in  the  river.  The 
American  guns — which  numbered  but  two — answered 


144          LIFE  OP  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

very  feebly  to  those  of  the  enemy ;  and  Callender  was 
withdrawing  altogether  to  the  cover  of  the  hill  with 
them,  because,  as  he  said,  his  cartridges  were  too 
large.  Putnam  rode  up  to  him  and  ordered  him  back 
on  the  ground,  threatening  otherwise  to  blow  out  his 
brains  on  the  spot.  He  and  his  men  returned,  but 
they  mingled  with  the  infantry,  feeling  confident  that 
they  could  not  manage  their  guns  to  any  effective  pur- 
pose. 

Howe  divided  his  assaulting  force  into  two  parts ; 
the  one  commanded  by  himself  directed  its  attack 
against  the  rail-fence,  which  was  a  hastily  constructed 
defence,  made  of  new-mown  hay  stuffed  in  between 
two  parallel  fences,  and  running  down  from  a  point 
below  the  breastworks,  and  in  their  rear,  to  near  the 
slough  which  bordered  Mystic  river ; — the  other  wing, 
under  Gen.  Pigot,  was  to  attack  the  redoubt.  Howe's 
artillery  did  not  serve  him  much,  on  account  of  the 
supply  of  balls  being  too  large  for  the  pieces,  and  also 
of  the  boggy  and  miry  character  of  the  ground.  So 
the  men  were  obliged  to  rely  upon  the  arms  they  bore 
in  their  hands. 

JsTot  a  word  was  spoken,  apparently,  as  the  splendid 
army  of  Great  Britain  slowly  toiled  up  the  hill  in  the 
hot  sun.  The  Americans  kept  out  of  sight,  and 
waited  almost  impatiently  for  the  enemy's  approach. 
There  were  now  fifteen  hundred  brave  hearts  within 


BATTLE  OF  BUNKER  HILL.  145 

those  entrenchments,  eager  to  engage  with  the  foe. 
Putnam  told  the  men,  as  he  passed  hastily  along  the 
lines,  dusty  and  perspiring,  not  to  waste  their  fire,  for 
powder  was  very  scarce.  "  Wait,"  said  he,  "  till  you 
see  the  whites  of  their  eyes,  and  then  take  aim  at 
their  waistbands!  Fire  low, — and  pick  off  the  com- 
manders, with  the  handsome  coats."  Prescott  gave 
the  same  orders  to  those  within  the  redoubt.  So  did 
the  other  officers  all  along  the  lines,  behind  the  breast- 
works and  the  rail-fence. 

The  moment  the  front  ranks  of  the  enemy  came 
near  enough,  the  word  was  given  to  fire.  The  execu- 
tion was  beyond  description.  Not  a  single  shot 
seemed  to  have  been  wasted.  The  British  fell  down 
in  solid  ranks,  like  grass  before  the  scythe  of  the 
mower.  Another  volley  followed  from  behind  the  in- 
trenchments;  and  then  another;  each  doing  as  ter- 
rible work  as  the  first ;  and  instantly  the  whole  body 
of  the  British  were  struck  with  terror,  and  broke  and 
ran  like  sheep  down  the  hill.  Some  of  the  Americans 
were  so  overjoyed  to  behold  the  result,  that  they 
leaped  over  the  rail  fence,  and  would  have  pursued 
them  down  to  the  water's  edge,  but  they  were  pru- 
dently held  in  check  by  their  officers. 

It  was  not  long  before  Gen.  Howe  succeeded  in  ral- 
lying his  defeated  troops,  and  bringing  them  up  to 
the  attack  as  before.  The  Americans  made  ready  for 
10 


14:6          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

them  as  rapidly  as  they  could.  Putnam  had  ridden  in 
hot  haste  across  to  Bunker  Hill,  and  tried  in  vain  to 
bring  back  the  additional  troops, — fragments  of  regi- 
ments,— posted  there,  so  that  they  might  take  part  in 
the  battle.  When  the  British  came  up  to  the  attack 
the  second  time,  there  were  no  more  Americans  in 
the  engagement  than  before.  Four  hundred  men  had, 
however,  arrived  in  the  meanwhile  from  Boston,  un- 
der command  of  Major  Small,*  the  old  friend  of  Put- 
nam. Gen.  Howe  led  the  way  this  time,  telling  his 
men  they  need  not  go  a  foot  further  than  he  was 
willing  to  go  himself.  This  time  they  played  their 
artillery  with  considerable  effect.  They  were  obliged 
to  march  over  the  dead  bodies  of  their  companions, 
which  lay  in  rows  all  around  them  on  the  hillside. 

*  Major  Small's  story  is  as  follows:  "I  glanced  my  eye 
to  the  enemy,  and  saw  several  young  men  leveling  their 
pieces  at  me;  I  knew  their  excellence  as  marksmen,  and 
I  considered  myself  gone.  At  that  moment,  my  old  friend 
Putnam  rushed  forward,  and  striking  up  the  muzzles  of 
their  pieces  with  his  sword,  cried  out,  '  For  God's  sake, 
my  lads,  don't  fire  at  that  man!  I  love  him  as  I  do  my 
brother.'  We  were  so  near  each  other  that  I  heard  his 
words  distinctly.  He  was  obeyed;  I  bowed,  thanked  him, 
and  walked  away  unmolested." 

Later  in  the  battle,  when  Warren  fell  and  a  soldier  was 
in  the  act  of  plunging  a  ba3ronet  into  the  body  of  the  dying 
patriot,  it  was  Major  Small  who  thrust  the  weapon  aside. 
The  scene  of  this  is  represented  in  Trumbull's  well  known 
painting  of  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  Thus  does  one 
act  of  chivalry  inspire  another. 


BATTLE  OF  BUNKER  HILL.  147 

Just  at  this  moment,  too,  dense  clouds  of  smoke  be- 
gan to  roll  up  from  the  burning  village  of  Charles- 
town  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  which  had  been  wantonly 
set  on  fire  by  hot  shot  thrown  from  the  British  bat- 
tery on  Copp's  Hill.  The  expectation  on  the  part  of 
the  enemy  was,  that  the  smoke  would  roll  in  between 
them  and  the  Americans,  so  as  to  allow  them  an  op- 
portunity to  gain  their  rear  unperceived,  and  like- 
wise to  reach  the  breastworks,  which  they  were  then 
resolved  to  scale.  Fortunately,  however,  a  light 
breeze  lifted  the  smoke  columns  in  its  airy  hands,  and 
drifted  them  in  a  body  out  towards  the  sea.  Thus 
the  movements  of  the  British  were  as  apparent  as 
they  were  before.  The  Americans  behind  their  in- 
trenchments  waited  until  they  came  within  the  pre- 
scribed distance,  and  then  poured  in  a  volley  that  did 
even  more  murderous  work  than  they  had  done  be- 
fore. 

Whole  ranks,  of  officers  and  men  alike,  were  swept 
down  before  this  resistless  fire.  Gen.  Howe  found 
himself  at  one  time  standing  almost  entirely  alone. 
The  troops  were  filled  with  direst  confusion.  It  was 
more  than  their  officers  could  do,  to  hold  them  to- 
gether. The  broken  ranks  could  not  be  closed  up 
and  made  whole  with  the  help  of  any  exertions.  No 
threats  had  the  least  effect  upon  the  panic-stricken 
regulars.  Alarmed,  and  dispirited,  and  overwhelmed 


148          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

with  double  confusion,  they  turned  their  backs  in  a 
body  and  ran  off  down  the  hill,  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  provincial's  deadly  musketry.  Gen.  Clinton,  the 
British  commander,  saw  the  rout  that  had  been 
created  by  the  stubborn  provincial  militia,  and  felt 
mortified  and  chagrined;  so  much  so  that  he  hastily 
threw  himself  into  a  boat,  and,  some  five  hundred 
more  following,  crossed  over  with  the  reckless  resolu- 
tion of  serving  as  a  volunteer.  A  part  of  the  British 
officers  protested  against  marching  up  the  hill  again, 
to  meet  with  certain  destruction ;  but  Howe  had  by 
this  time  found  out  where  the  weakest  point  in  the 
works  lay, — between  the  breastworks  and  the  rail- 
fence, — and  determined  to  make  one  final  effort  to 
carry  it.  It  is  also  related  that  some  careless  soldier 
within  the  redoubt  was  overheard  to  say  something 
about  the  scarcity  of  the  ammunition ;  and  this  fact, 
when  reported  to  the  ofiicers,  gave  a  little  more  en- 
couragement to  the  enemy. 

Gen.  Howe,  therefore,  led  the  third  attack  against 
the  American  left,  especially  against  the  point  on 
the  slope  between  the  breastworks  and  the  rail-fence. 
Gen.  Pigot,  aided  by  Gen.  Clinton,  marched  up  to 
attack  the  redoubt,  aiming  also  to  turn  the  American 
right.  The  orders  to  the  British  soldiers  were  to  take 
the  fire  of  the  Americans,  and  then  to  charge  bayonets 
and  scale  the  works.  This  is  what  they  should  have 


BATTLE  OF  BUNKER  HILL.  14-9 

done  in  the  first  place;  and  what  they  would  have 
done,  had  they  known  how  short  the  Americans  were 
for  ammunition. 

While  the  British  were  getting  ready  to  come  up 
to  the  third  assault,  the  Americans  had  time  to  re- 
fresh themselves,  and  in  some  degree  to  recover  from 
the  protracted  fatigue  of  the  night  and  day.  They 
also  began  to  hope,  from  the  long  interval  that  elapsed 
between  the  second  and  third  attacks,  that  the  enemy 
were  finally  defeated,  and  would  not  venture  to  come 
up  again.  Well  might  they  have  hoped  it  was  so,  for 
they  knew  too  well  how  low  their  ammunition  had 
begun  to  run;  and  as  for  their  muskets,  there  were 
very  few  bayonets  to  them  all.  Therefore,  in  this 
brief  interval,  they  cast  about  to  know  what  they 
should  do  if  the  emergency  really  came.  Some  pre- 
pared to  club  their  muskets,  after  having  first  dis- 
charged them  at  the  enemy.  Some  collected  stones 
and  other  missiles,  to  hurl  at  them  in  the  last  neces- 
sity. They  thought  of  everything,  in  fact,  but  fear. 

Meantime  Major  General  Ward  sent  over  three 
regiments  to  the  field,  hoping  to  help  the  troops  to 
hold  the  hill.  One  detachment  of  about  three  hun- 
dred did  pass  over  the  neck ;  but  the  fire  from  the  ves- 
sels' guns  that  swept  the  entire  passage  was  so  severe, 
that  the  men  hesitated  when  they  reached  the  spot 
and  saw  the  almost  entire  hopelessness  of  making  the 


150         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

attempt.  Putnam  first  ordered  these  three  hundred 
to  fall  to  work  intrenching  Bunker  Hill,  but  after- 
wards ordered  them  forward  to  the  lines.  He  was 
working  like  a  hero  all  the  while,  riding  to  and  fro 
at  the  top  of  his  speed,  to  get  the  scattered  forces 
on  Bunker  Hill  into  martial  order,  and  to  lead  them 
on  to  the  defence  of  Breed's  Hill.  He  also  rode  down 
to  the  neck,  and  shouted  to  the  recruits  on  the  other 
side  to  come  over,  and  lend  the  aid  of  their  bayonets. 
He  then  dashed  across  the  exposed  passage,  through 
the  rain  of  the  balls  from  the  enemy's  cannon,  in 
order  to  show  them  that  they  had  nothing  to  fear.* 
But  it  was  to  no  purpose. 

On  came  the  British,  at  length,  for  the  third  time. 
The  Americans  stood  firm  and  resolute  in  their  lines, 
prepared  to  receive  them.  The  British  artillery  soon 
turned  the  breastworks,  however,  sweeping  the  whole 
line  of  their  interior.  The  Americans  were  of  course 
thus  driven  within  the  redoubt,  the  breastwork  being 
abandoned.  But  they  had  taken  sure  aim  before  they 

*  Putnam  that  day  rode  several  times  back  and  forth 
between  Charlestown  and  Cambridge.  A  private  soldier 
afterward  described  him  as  being  "  without  a  coat,  in  his 
shirt-sleeves,  and  having  an  old  white  felt  hat  on."  His 
absolutely  reckless  exposure  to  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  and 
his  escape  from  all  harm,  had  no  little  effect  upon  his 
soldiers.  They  were,  says  Swett,  perfectly  convinced  that 
he  was  invulnerable, — but  not  equally  conscious  of  being 
so  themselves.  They  thus  declined  to  share  with  him  the 
danger. 


BATTLE  OF  BUNKER  HILL. 

left,  and  brought  down  many  a  proud  British  officer. 
General  Howe  himself  was  wounded  in  the  foot. 
There  was  but  one  round  a-piece  to  the  provincials 
now,  and  when  they  had  expended  their  first  fire  they 
knew  they  must  make  a  hand-to-hand  fight  of  it. 
Hence  they  fired  with  just  as  great  precision  as  be- 
fore, every  shot  bringing  down  its  man.- 

Then  it  was  that  they  were  put  to  their  true  met- 
tle. From  that  moment  it  was  every  man  for  him- 
self. The  British  came  jumping  over  the  walls  of 
earth,  with  fixed  bayonets.  They  were  received  with 
showers  of  stones  in  their  faces,  with  muskets  used 
like  clubs  over  their  heads,  and  with  resistance  in 
every  possible  style.  The  fight  was  man  against  man. 
Every  inch  of  ground  was  stoutly  contested.  The  re- 
doubt was  already  fast  filling  up  with  the  enemy,  and 
the  Americans  saw  that  nothing  was  left  them  but  to 
retreat.  Major  Pitcairn,* — the  same  who  opened  the 

*  "  Although  Putnam  was  not  present  at  the  battle  of  Lex- 
ington, the  pistols  which  he  carried  in  the  American  Revo- 
lution were  a  trophy  of  that  eventful  day.  They  were  none 
other  than  those  of  Major  Pitcairn  who  had  discharged 
one  of  them  when  he  gave  his  soldiers  the  order  to  fire 
on  the  minutemen  who  were  drawn  up  on  Lexington  Green. 
Later  in  the  day,  when  the  British  were  retreating,  Pit- 
cairn's  horse  was  shot  under  him,  and  in  the  haste  of  dis- 
mounting, in  order  to  escape  his  pursuers,  the  British  offi- 
cer left  his  weapons  behind  him.  They  were  captured  by 
the  Americans,  and,  a  few  weeks  later,  were  offered  as  a 
gift  to  Washington,  but  he  declined  them.  They  were 


152          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

revolution  on  Lexington  Green  in  April, — was  one  of 
the  first  to  mount  the  walls  of  the  redoubt,  and  he  was 
instantly  shot  by  a  negro  soldier,  while  shouting  to 
his  reinforcement  of  marines  behind  him, — "  Xow 
for  the  glory  of  the  marines !  "  Prescott  ordered  a  re- 
treat, feeling  certain  that  they  could  maintain  their 
position  no  longer.  This  was  carried  out  in  perfect 
order,  the  men  keeping  their  faces  to  the  foe,  and  re- 
sisting stoutly  for  every  foot  they  were  obliged  to 
yield.  Prescott  and  Warren  were  the  last  to  leave 
the  redoubt.  The  butts  of  the  American  muskets 
cracked  loud  over  the  heads  of  the  British  soldiers, 
and  were  in  many  cases  shivered  into  fragments. 
There  was  a  glistening  of  steel  in  the  sun,  and  a 
clash  and  ring  of  bayonets  and  musketry.  There 
were  shoutings  and  curses,  and  an  indescribable  con- 
fusion of  sounds  and  voices.  The  faces  of  many  of 
the  militia  were  smutted  and  blackened  with  powder, 
so  that  they  were  scarcely  known  to  their  companions 
and  friends.  Col.  Gridley,  who  planned  the  works, 
was  wounded  and  carried  off  the  hill.  Prescott  re- 
ceived several  bayonet  thrusts,  but  fortunately  was 

then  presented  to  Putnam  and  were  his  constant  compan- 
ions during  the  rest  of  his  military  career.  These  silver- 
mounted  and  handsomely  engraved  pistols  are  now  kept 
in  the  Gary  library  at  Lexington,  having  been  given  to  the 
town  by  the  widow  of  John  P.  Putnam,  of  Cambridge,  N.  Y." 
— Livingston. 


BATTLE  OF  BUNKER  HILL.  153 

not  wounded.  Warren  retreated  even  after  the  latter 
did,  and  was  shot  through  the  head  by  a  musket  ball, 
dropping  dead  in  his  tracks.  There  he  lay  until  he 
was  recognized  the  next  morning  by  Dr.  Jeffries,  a 
British  surgeon,  and  an  intimate  friend ;  when  he  was 
taken  up  and  buried  on  the  spot  where  he  fell.  He 
was  mourned  by  the  whole  army  and  province.  Gen. 
Putnam  felt  his  loss  as  keenly  as  any  one  could;  he 
compared  his  fate  with  that  which  a  few  years  before 
overtook  young  Lord  Howe  at  his  side,  while  march- 
ing against  the  French  at  Ticonderoga. 

Parts  of  regiments  at  this  juncture  came  pouring 
down  from  Bunker  Hill,  and  did  effective  service  in 
covering  the  American  retreat.  At  the  rail-fence, 
which  was  manned  by  Putnam's  Connecticut  troops, 
with  others,  a  successful  effort  was  made  for  a  short 
time  to  prevent  the  British  from  turning  their  flank, 
and  so  the  latter  were  kept  in  check  until  the  main 
body  could  safely  make  their  way  out  of  the  redoubt ; 
but  for  this  resolute  stand,  the  retreating  militia  must 
have  been  cut  off  entirely.  But  as  soon  as  they  saw 
that  the  rest  of  their  comrades  had  taken  to  flight, 
they  left  their  position  with  all  possible  despatch. 
Putnam  tried  every  method  to  induce  them  to  stand 
firm,  flying  into  a  towering  passion,  and  using  lan- 
guage that  was  for  a  long  time  afterwards  remem- 
bered for  its  profanity.  The  old  man  could  not  bear 


154:          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

the  thought  of  their  deserting  their  ground,  and  it  is 
said  that  he  was  not  wholly  aware  at  the  time  how 
low  they  had  run  for  powder.  "  Make  a  stand  here !  " 
he  shouted.  "  We  can  stop  them  yet !  In  God's 
name,  fire !  and  give  them  one  shot  more !  "  Pome- 
roy,  too,  with  his  shattered  musket  in  his  hand,  tried 
to  rally  them  for  one  more  effort ;  but  it  was  in  vain. 
Putnam  covered  their  retreat  in  person,  and  was 
not  more  than  twelve  rods  distant  from  the  enemy, 
and  fully  exposed  to  their  fire.  He  came  to  one  of  the 
field-pieces  that  had  been  deserted,  which  he  roundly 
swore  should  not  be  given  up  to  the  enemy.  Only 
one  man  could  be  found  to  remain  there  with  him ; 
and  he  was  in  another  moment  shot  down  at  his  side, 
and  the  rapid  advance  of  the  British  with  fixed  bay- 
onets drove  him  from  the  cannon  also.  Colonel 
Trumbull,  the  painter  of  the  Revolution,  has  repre- 
sented Putnam,  in  his  great  battle  piece  at  the  na- 
tional Capital,  in  the  act  of  defending  this  field- 
piece  and  covering  the  retreating  militia.  The 
painter  has  attired  him  in  a  splendid  blue  and  scarlet 
uniform  ;  whereas  his  dress  on  that  day  was  strikingly 
different  from  that,  and  more  truly  befitted  the  char- 
acter of  the  man  and  the  nature  of  the  work  he  was 
engaged  in.  An  old  soldier,  who  was  in  the  fight  of 
that  day,  has  told  us  exactly  how  the  General  was 
clad,  and  how  he  looked.  He  says  that  he  rode  about 


BATTLE  OF  BUNKER  HILL.  155 

the  hill,  and  across  the  neck  between  Charlestown 
and  Cambridge,  in  order  to  report  to  Gen.  Ward, — 
"  without  any  coat,  in  his  shirt-sleeves,  and  with  an 
old  felt  hat  on  his  head."  This  was  certainly  more  a 
dress  for  useful,  than  for  ornamental  purposes,  and 
would  not  be  likely  to  encumber  or  embarrass  any  one 
who  had  hard  and  hasty  work  to  do. 

The  Americans  retreated  in  good  order  down  the 
hill  and  across  the  neck,  compelled,  however,  to  run 
the  gauntlet  of  the  galling  fire  from  the  British  ves- 
sels. Many  of  them  were  killed,  as  was  to  be  ex- 
pected. They  next  took  up  their  position  on  Pros- 
pect and  Winter  Hills,  about  a  mile  distant,  which 
they  proceeded  at  once  to  fortify.  Here  they  lay  all 
night.  The  British  occupied  the  ground  they  had  so 
dearly  gained,  and  remained  there  in  quiet  until 
morning.  Had  they  pursued  their  advantage,  and 
pushed  on  upon  Cambridge,  it  would  have  proved  a 
great  day's  work  for  them,  after  all.  Many  wondered 
at  the  time  why  they  did  not.  But  when  the  report 
of  their  losses  on  that  day  came  to  be  given,  there 
would  seem  to  have  been  the  best  reason  in  the  world 
for  the  neglect.  Out  of  between  four  and  five  thou- 
sand troops  that  were  sent  over  from  Boston,  their 
loss  in  killed  and  wounded  amounted  to  fifteen  hun- 
dred. It  was  too  terrible  a  slaughter  for  them  to  re- 
cover from,  in  so  short  a  time.  Clinton,  however,  was 


156 

for  pushing  on;  Howe  was  more  timid,  and  advised 
that  the  troops  remain  and  rest  where  they  were.* 

This  day's  work  was  proof  enough  that  the  Ameri- 
cana could  boldly  resist  oppression  and  tyranny. 

*  Of  the  place  and  influence  of  General  Putnam  in  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  Livingston  writes:  "  Putnam's  activ- 
ity at  the  rail  fence  and  near  the  redoubt  in  encouraging 
the  men  and  commanding  them  not  to  waste  their  powder, 
but  to  wait  before  firing  until  they  saw  the  white  of  the 
enemy's  eyes,  the  authority  which  he  exercised  in  with- 
drawing men  with  intrenching  tools  from  Prescott  to  throw 
up  earthworks  on  the  second  eminence,  his  repeated  trips 
across  Charlestown  Neck  to  obtain  reinforcements,  his  at- 
tempts to  rally  the  men  during  the  retreat,  and  his  orders 
after  his  troops  came  to  a  halt  on  Prospect  and  Winter 
Hills,  are  all  evidences  that  he  was  the  foremost  leader  in 
different  parts  of  the  field." 

Washington  Irving  writes:  "  Putnam  also  was  a  leading 
spirit  throughout  the  affair;  one  of  the  first  to  prompt  and 
one  of  the  last  to  maintain  it.  He  appears  to  have  been 
active  and  efficient  at  every  point;  sometimes  fortifying; 
sometimes  hurrying  up  reinforcements;  inspiriting  men 
by  his  presence  while  they  were  able  to  maintain  their 
ground,  and  fighting  gallantly  at  the  outpost  to  cover  their 
retreat.  The  brave  old  man,  riding  about  in  the  heat  of 
action,  on  this  sultry  day,  '  with  a  hanger  belted  across  his 
brawny  shoulders,  over  a  waistcoat  without  sleeves,'  has 
been  sneered  at  by  a  contemporary  as  '  much  fitter  to  head 
a  band  of  sickle  men  or  ditchers  than  muskeeters.'  But 
this  very  description  illustrates  his  character,  and  identi- 
fies him  with  the  times  and  the  service.  A  yeoman  fresh 
from  the  plow,  in  the  garb  of  rural  labor;  a  patriot  brave 
and  generous,  but  rough  and  ready,  who  thought  not  of 
himself  in  time  of  danger,  but  was  ready  to  serve  in  any 
way,  and  to  sacrifice  official  rank  and  self-glorification  to 
the  good  of  the  cause." 


BATTLE  OF  BUNKER  HILL.  157 

They  had  seen  the  fire  and  smoke,  and  heard  the  yells 
and  groans  of  battle.  On  that  Saturday  afternoon, 
in  an  engagement  which  lasted  about  two  hours  in  all, 
they  lost,  counting  the  killed,  wounded,  and  missing, 
four  hundred  and  fifty  men.  This  was  in  no  sense  a 
victory  on  the  part  of  the  British.  They  gained  the 
field,  because  the  ammunition  of  the  Americans  gave 
out  too  soon ;  but  they  certainly  lost  the  battle.  Be- 
sides this,  they  learned  a  lesson  which  they  refused 
to  read  before,  that  the  people  of  America  would  fight 
to  the  last  drop  of  blood  for  their  rights,  their  soil, 
and  their  firesides.* 

*  The  moral  or  political  effect  of  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill  was  very  great.  It  roused  the  excitement  of  the  col- 
onies as  no  other  event  could  have  done.  Blood  had  been 
shed,  Dr.  Warren  had  fallen  among  the  rest,  the  provincial 
militia  had  shown  fighting  qualities  quite  equal  to  those 
of  the  flower  of  the  British  regulars.  The  battle  left  the 
Americans  more  determined  and  hopeful  than  ever  before. 
The  British  held  the  ground,  but  they  lost  more  than  they 
gained,  and  thus  the  phrase,  "  a  Bunker  Hill  victory,"  has 
passed  into  proverbial  speech. 


CHAPTEE  VIIL 

SIEGE  OF  BOSTON". 

THEEE  was  no  retreat  for  the  Colonists  after  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  The  Eubicon  had  been 
crossed.  They  had  taken  the  sword,  and  made  their 
appeal  to  the  God  of  battles ;  and  by  the  sword,  under 
the  directing  care  of  a  kind  Providence,  must  they 
only  hope  to  stand  or  fall. 

There  was  no  formal  compact,  or  union,  as  yet,  be- 
tween the  several  Colonies;  yet  they  were  even  then 
conferring  together,  through  their  delegates  in  Phila- 
delphia, as  to  the  best  method  of  making  effective  re- 
sistance to  the  tyrannical  demands  of  England.  This 
Congress  possessed  no  particular  power  to  pass  any 
acts  which  should  bind  the  Colonies,  but  was  con- 
vened more  for  the  purpose  of  conferring  upon  the 
wisest  plans  for  them  to  adopt.  Massachusetts  had 
proposed  a  federal  union,  and  likewise  offered  to  sub- 
scribe to  any  plan  of  the  kind  which  should  be 
brought  forward  and  established.  The  delegates 
from  the  other  New  England  Colonies  agreed  to  the 
same  thing. 

158 


SIEGE  OF  BOSTON.  159 

Congress  therefore  acted  with  promptness,  as  it 
should  have  done,  if  at  all.  It  proceeded  at  once  to 
organize  and  officer  a  regular  army,  and  placed  Wash- 
ington at  its  head.  There  were  four  Major  Generals 
appointed  under  him, — Lee,  Ward,  Schuyler,  and 
Putnam.  General  Washington  came  on  to  Cam- 
bridge, and  assumed  his  high  office  on  the  2nd  day 
of  July.  He  also  gave  Putnam  the  commission  which 
he  brought  on  from  Congress,  without  any  delay. 
From  others  he  withheld  their  commissions  for  a 
time.  Some  of  the  Brigadier  Generals  felt  aggrieved 
that  they  had  been  superseded  by  men  who  ranked 
lower  in  the  armies  of  the  separate  colonies,  and  left 
the  army  in  consequence.  Jealousies  and  heart-burn- 
ings like  these  called  for  the  exercise  of  the  highest 
degree  of  patience  and  tact  on  the  part  of  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief ;  and  it  was  fortunate  for  our  liber- 
ties that  the  country  at  that  time  had  a  man  like 
George  Washington  to  place  in  supreme  command. 
It  is  sufficient  to  add  that  these  officers  returned  to 
the  army  again,  consenting  to  overlook  what  had  at 
first  given  them  such  deep  dissatisfaction. 

The  British  immediately  began  to  fortify  Charles- 
town,  and  carried  out  the  plans  of  Putnam  himself 
upon  Bunker  Hill.  They  likewise  strengthened  their 
defences  in  Boston  to  the  fullest  capacity.  Washing- 
ton, upon  taking  command,  formed  the  army  into 


160          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

three  divisions:  Major-General  Lee  commanded  the 
left  wing,  reaching  to  the  Mystic  river, — Major- 
General  Ward  commanded  the  right  wing,  stationed 
at  Dorchester  and  Roxbury, — and  Major-General 
Putnam  commanded  the  advance  of  the  centre,  while 
the  Commander-in-Chief  himself  made  his  head  quar- 
ters at  Cambridge.  Putnam  saw  Washington  for 
the  first  time  in  his  life,  when  he  arrived  at  Cam- 
bridge, and  the  acquaintance  thus  formed  ripened 
into  a  friendship  and  intimacy,  which  lasted  through 
the  whole  of  Putnam's  remaining  days. 

It  is  reported  that  a  flag  of  truce  arrived  at  the 
American  lines,  about  this  time,  which  had  come 
from  Major  Small,  the  old  friend  of  Putnam.  Small 
wished  to  see  Putnam  on  urgent  business.  The  latter 
consulted  with  Washington  as  to  the  expediency  of 
meeting  him  as  requested.  Washington  advised  the 
step,  and  Putnam  accordingly  went  over.  Major 
Small  only  wished  to  make  a  proposal  to  his  former 
companion  in  arms,  on  behalf  of  the  British  com- 
mander. It  was  that  Putnam  should  desert  the  Con- 
tinental Army,  throw  his  influence  on  the  side  of  the 
King,  and  receive  therefor — as  offered  to  him  once 
before, — high  rank,  a  liberal  compensation  in  money, 
p.nd  bountiful  provision  for  his  sons.  Putnam  treated 
the  proposal  as  he  had  treated  it  once  before, — with 
indignation  and  scorn.  The  story  goes,  that  Putnam 


SIEGE  OF  BOSTON.  161 

confided  the  proposal  to  no  one  but  Washington,  and 
that  it  remained  a  secret  for  several  years. 

The  Americans  exerted  themselves  without  cessa- 
tion to  hedge  the  British  in;  and  for  this  purpose 
they  erected  defences  and  fortifications  at  every  point, 
in  a  wide  circuit  of  a  dozen  miles  around  Boston, — 
from  Dorchester  Heights  to  Charlestown, — where 
the  enemy  would  be  likely  to  make  an  attempt  to  pass 
through.  Thus  they  were  completely  blockaded,  ex- 
cept to  the  seaward.  Winter  Hill,  Prospect  Hill,  and 
Ploughed  Hill  were  fortified,  to  prevent  them  from 
making  their  way  up  the  Mystic  River.  Putnam 
exerted  himself  greatly  to  fortify  the  latter  hill,  since 
it  most  immediately  checked  any  advantage  they 
might  attempt  to  take  from  their  position  on  Bunker 
Hill.  He  never  refused  to  work  with  his  own  hands, 
entering  into  the  labor  required  with  all  his  native 
impetuosity  and  ardor. 

Congress  put  forth  a  solemn  Declaration  of  War, 
on  the  6th  of  July.  It  was,  at  the  time,  quite  doubt- 
ful how  it  would  be  received  by  the  army  which 
Washington  was  so  actively  engaged  in  organizing; 
and  it  was  feared,  if  they  should  refuse  to  adopt  it 
as  an  expression  of  their  own  sentiments,  that  they 
would  break  up  and  return  in  time  to  their  homes. 
They  had  enlisted  for  no  definite  period,  but  had 
come  forward  as  volunteers  to  repel  the  assaults  of 
11 


162          ^IFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

the  British  on  Boston.  The  Declaration  was  read  at 
head-quarters,  at  Cambridge,  by  the  President  of 
Harvard  College,  on  the  15th  of  July.  On  the  18th, 
it  was  read  to  the  division  under  command  of  Gen- 
eral Putnam,  on  Prospect  Hill;  after  which  the  sol- 
diers shouted  "  Amen "  three  times,  a  cannon  was 
fired,  cheers  were  given  by  the  troops,  and  the  flag 
of  Connecticut  was  thrown  to  the  breeze,  bearing  on 
one  side  the  motto,  "  An  Appeal  to  Heaven,"  and  on 
the  other  "  Qui  transtulit,  sustinet."  *  The  Essex 
Gazette,  in  narrating  the  event,  said, — "  The  Philis- 
tines on  Bunker  Hill  heard  the  shouts  of  the  Israel- 
ites, and,  being  very  fearful,  paraded  themselves  in 
battle  array."  For  some  time  after,  frequent  skir- 
mishes occurred  between  the  two  hostile  armies, 
which  tended  to  make  the  raw  American  soldiers 
alert  and  mindful  of  discipline. 

A  description  of  the  American  camp  in  those  days, 
from  the  pen  of  an  army  chaplain,  is  very  interesting 
at  this  time : — "  The  generals  are  upon  the  lines  every 
day.  2few  orders  from  his  excellency  are  read  to  the 
respective  regiments,  every  morning  after  prayers. 
The  strictest  government  is  taking  place,  and  great 
distinction  is  made  between  officers  and  soldiers. 
Every  one  is  made  to  know  his  place,  and  keep  in  it, 

*  "  He  who  transplanted,  sustains."  This  is  the  motto  of 
Connecticut. 


SIEGE  OF  BOSTON.  163 

or  to  be  tied  up  and  receive  thirty  or  forty  lashes,  ac- 
cording to  his  crime.  Thousands  are  at  work  every 
day,  from  four  till  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning.  It 
is  surprising  how  much  work  has  been  done.  *  *  *  * 
.Who  would  have  thought,  twelve  months  past,  that  all 
Cambridge  and  Charlestown  would  be  covered  over 
with  American  camps,  and  cut  up  into  forts,  and  in- 
trenchments,  and  all  the  lands,  fields  and  orchards 
laid  common ;  horses  and  cattle  feeding  in  the  choic- 
est mowing  land,  whole  fields  of  corn  eaten  down  to 
the  ground,  and  large  parks  of  well  regulated  locusts 
cut  down  for  fire-wood  and  other  public  uses  ?  This, 
I  must  say,  looks  a  little  melancholy.  My  quarters 
are  at  the  foot  of  the  famous  Prospect  Hill,  where 
such  preparations  are  made  for  the  reception  of  the 
enemy.  It  is  very  diverting  to  walk  among  the 
camps.  They  are  as  different  in  their  forms  as  the 
owners  are  in  their  dress,  and  every  tent  is  a  por- 
traiture of  the  temper  and  taste  of  the  persons  who 
encamp  in  it.  Some  are  made  of  boards,  and  some  of 
sail-cloth ;  some  partly  of  one  and  partly  of  the  other. 
Again  others  are  made  of  stone  or  turf,  brick  or  brush. 
Some  are  thrown  up  in  a  hurry ;  others  are  curiously 
wrought  with  doors  and  windows,  done  with  wreaths 
and  withes,  in  the  manner  of  a  basket.  Some  are 
your  proper  tents  or  marquees,  looking  like  the  regu- 
lar camp  of  the  enemy.  In  these  are  the  Khode  Is- 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

landers,  who  are  furnished  with  tent  equipage  and 
everything  in  the  most  exact  English  style.  How- 
ever, I  think  this  great  variety  rather  a  beauty  than 
a  blemish  in  the  army." 

Washington  felt  the  want  of  powder  in  his  army, 
during  this  summer  and  autumn,  more  than  any- 
thing else.  He  found,  to  his  surprise,  that  at  one 
time  he  had  but  thirty-two  barrels  for  the  entire 
army.  Privateersmen  were  fitted  out  to  attack  the 
enemy's  vessels  that  were  hovering  on  the  coast,  and 
one  of  the  latter  was  finally  captured  by  Capt.  Manly, 
with  a  large  supply  of  cannon  and  ammunition. 
There  were  no  powder  mills  in  the  colonies  then. 
Washington  was  very  much  afraid,  too,  lest  the  Brit- 
ish commander  should  find  out  his  condition  in  this 
particular.  Vessels  were  fitted  out  from  various  ports 
for  the  West  Indies,  to  bring  back  supplies  of  powder 
alone.  JsTew  England  rum  was  sent  to  the  coast  of 
Africa,  where  it  was  exchanged  for  the  much  needed 
commodity. 

The  British  numbered  about  thirteen  thousand 
men,  while  the  Americans  hemming  them  in  counted 
nearly  fifteen  thousand.  In  November,  Gen.  Put- 
nam threw  up  other  fortifications  on  Cobble  Hill, 
which  was  somewhat  nearer  to  the  enemy  in  Boston 
than  Ploughed  Hill,  which  had  already  been  occu- 
pied. This  intrenchment  went  by  the  name  of  "  Put- 


SIEGE  OF  BOSTON.  165 

nam's  impregnable  fortress,"  while  the  one  at  Pros- 
pect Hill,  which  was  his  head  quarters,  was  called 
"  our  main  fortress."  The  former  was  briskly  fired 
upon  by  the  British  cannon,  both  from  Bunker  Hill 
and  from  their  vessels,  while  the  men  were  engaged  in 
throwing  it  up;  but  no  damage  resulted.  As  soon, 
however,  as  the  fortifications  were  completed,  the 
guns  that  were  mounted  within  them  opened  on  the 
gun-boats  and  batteries  of  the  enemy  on  Charles 
river,  and  effectually  drove  them  from  their  trouble- 
some position.  General  Gage  was  becoming  uneasy, 
thus  shut  in  by  the  American  army.  His  men  lay 
idle ;  vice  was  fast  increasing  in  the  ranks ;  intoxica- 
tion was  becoming  quite  common  ;  and  the  entire  body 
of  the  troops  showed  signs  of  a  rapid  demoralization. 
He  saw  his  mistake  in  remaining  where  he  was.  He 
dared  not  march  out  into  the  surrounding  country, 
and  strike  a  blow ;  for  it  might  be  that  he  had  not  the 
present  strength.  There  was  also  much  rising  disaf- 
fection both  among  his  officers  and  soldiers.  The 
Americans  printed  handbills,  and  circulated  them 
secretly  within  the  British  lines;  and  these  trifling 
things  were  a  prolific  cause  of  permanent  michief. 
There  is  a  handbill  now  in  possession  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Historical  Society,  which  was  printed  in 
London,  and  circulated  among  the  soldiers  who  were 
about  to  embark  as  reinforcements  for  America.  On 


166          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

one  side  is  the  phrase,  "  Before  God  and  man  they 
are  right."  On  the  back  of  the  same,  and  evidently 
printed  after  its  arrival  in  this  country,  were  two 
statements,  as  follows,  the  reader  remembering  that 
at  Prospect  Hill  were  Putnam's  head  quarters,  and 
at  Bunker  Hill  those  of  Gen.  Howe : — 

PROSPECT  HILL. 

I.  Seven  dollars  a  month. 

II.  Fresh  provisions,  and  in  plenty. 

III.  Health. 

IY.  Freedom,  ease,  affluence,  and  a  good  farm. 

BUNKEK  HILL. 

I.  Three  pence  a  day. 

II.  Rotten  salt  pork. 

III.  The  scurvy. 

IV.  Slavery,  beggary  and  want. 

General  Gage  wrote  home  to  Lord  Dartmouth,  in 
the  month  of  June, — "  The  trials  we  have  had,  show 
that  the  rebels  are  not  the  despicable  rabble  too  many 
have  supposed  them  to  be."  In  July  he  wrote  again, 
in  speaking  of  the  rebellion, — "  This  province  began 
it, — I  might  say  this  town;  for  here  the  arch  rebels 
formed  their  scheme  long  ago."  Provisions  at  length 
began  to  grow  very  scarce.  Gage  sent  out  parties  to 
obtain  plunder  of  this  sort,  but  they  always  returned 


SIEGE  OF  BOSTON.  167 

unsuccessful.  Finally,  in  order  to  thin  out  the  popu- 
lation, it  was  determined  to  dismiss  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Boston  who  were  willing  to  go;  it  being 
estimated  that  there  were  between  six  and  seven  thou- 
sand in  the  town,  whose  absence  would  make  quite  a 
difference  in  the  amount  of  supplies  required.  Those 
who  wished  to  leave  were  told  to  send  in  their  names ; 
but  as  they  were  expressly  forbidden  to  carry  any  of 
their  plate  away,  or  money  to  the  amount  of  more 
than  five  pounds — or  twenty-five  dollars, — to  each 
person,  not  more  than  two  thousand  names  were  given 
in.  People  of  property  would  not  go,  to  leave  their 
wealth  behind  them,  to  be  seized  and  divided  among 
a  foreign  soldiery.  But  in  the  number  of  those  who 
did  leave,  many  of  the  women  quilted  their  silver 
spoons  and  coin  into  their  under-garments,  and  so  car- 
ried off  much  of  their  valuables  in  safety. 

Congress  began  to  grow  impatient  that  Washing- 
ton had  not  yet  risked  a  pitched  battle,  and  winter 
now  fast  coming  on.  They  found  fault,  some  of 
them,  with  his  inefficiency.  He  was  placed,  how- 
ever, in  most  trying  circumstances.  He  was  very 
short  for  the  necessary  supplies  of  war,  while  the  sol- 
diers began  to  consider  the  time  close  at  hand — in 
September — when  the  term  for  which  they  had  en- 
listed had  expired.  He  was  himself,  therefore,  in 
favor  of  bringing  oruan  action  between  the  armies  as 


168          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

soon  as  it  could  be  done  advantageously;  but  the  of- 
ficers about  the  council  board  thought  otherwise.  He 
drew  up  a  letter  to  Congress,  describing  his  situation ; 
and  a  more  melancholy  picture  than  he  sketched,  it 
is  not  easy  to  imagine.  He  laid  the  whole  blame  upon 
the  shoulders  of  Congress,  and  charged  it  upon  them 
that  the  paymaster  "  had  not  a  single  dollar  in  hand," 
and  the  commissary  general  could  not  strain  his  credit 
any  farther.  He  told  them  whose  fault  he  thought 
it  was,  that  a  majority  of  the  troops  were  "  in  a  state 
not  far  from  mutiny,  upon  a  deduction  from  their 
stated  allowance."  Winter  was  approaching,  and 
what,  he  asked,  was  to  be  done  ?  All  this,  only  three 
months  after  he  had  taken  the  command. 

Gage  was  called  home  in  October,  and  General 
Howe  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  British 
in  his  place.  The  latter  general,  however,  was  as  un- 
willing to  attack  the  Americans  as  Gage  had  ever 
been.  He  had  tried  their  mettle  for  himself,  in  the 
battle  on  Breed's  Hill.  So  he  strengthened  his  po- 
sition in  the  town  as  much  as  he  could,  and  prepared 
to  pass  the  winter  comfortably  where  he  was.  He  for- 
tified Bunker  Hill  more  strongly  still,  and  added  to 
the  defences  on  Boston  Neck.  He  pulled  down  many 
buildings  in  the  city,  and  erected  military  works  in 
their  place.  He  tore  out  the  pews  of  the  "  old  South 
Church,"  and  converted  the  building  into  a  riding 


SIEGE  OF  BOSTON.  169 

school  for  his  cavalry.  A  British  gentleman  wrote 
from  Boston  in  October,  "  we  are  now  erecting  re- 
doubts on  the  eminences  on  Boston  Common;  and  a 
meeting-house,  where  sedition  has  been  often 
preached,  is  clearing  out  to  be  made  a  riding-school 
for  the  light  dragoons."  Another  writer  says,  "  in 
clearing  everything  away,  a  beautiful  carved  pew, 
with  silk  furniture,  formerly  belonging  to  a  deceased 
gentleman  in  high  estimation,  was  taken  down  and 
carried  to  Mr.  John  Armory's  house,  by  the  order  of 
an  officer,  who  applied  the  carved  work  to  the  erection 
of  a  hog-stye." 

A  committee  *  came  on  from  Congress  late  in  the 
autumn,  to  confer  with  Gen.  Washington  and  lay 
down  some  definite  plan  of  future  operations.  Dr. 
Franklin  was  of  the  number.  Many  of  the  soldiers 
left  pretty  soon  after,  their  terms  of  enlistment  hav- 
ing expired ;  but  an  appeal  to  the  people  of  New  Eng- 
land, which  was  soon  made,  called  forth  a  warm  and 
most  cheering  response.  Ten  thousand  men  placed 
themselves  in  readiness  to  march  at  a  moment's  warn- 
ing. And  pretty  soon  after,  the  wives  of  the  officers 
joined  them  in  the  camp,  which  brought  around 
lively  times  for  the  Christmas  holidays. f  The  wife 

*  This  committee  was  composed  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin of  Pennsylvania,  Colonel  Benjamin  Harrison  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  the  Hon.  Thomas  Lynch  of  South  Carolina. 

f  Mrs.  Putnam  occupied  the  Inman  house,  from  whence 


170          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

of  Gen.  Washington  came  on  from  Mount  Vernon, 
not  considering  herself,  just  then,  safe  in  Virginia. 

In  January  of  the  next  year,  1776,  the  British 
made  preparations  to  send  a  fleet  around  to  New 
York.  Washington  heard  of  it,  and  ordered  Gen. 
Lee  across  the  country  to  that  city,  with  authority  to 
collect  such  an  army  as  he  could  along  his  route,  and 
then  make  the  best  defences  for  the  city  he  was  able. 
Connecticut  especially  helped  him  to  a  large  force. 
He  at  once  proceeded,  therefore,  to  fortify  the  city, 
the  heights  on  Long  Island,  and  the  Highland  passes 
on  the  Hudson.  Washington  resolved  at  length  to 
force  the  enemy  to  an  engagement,  in  spite  of  the 
advice  of  a  council  of  war  to  the  contrary.  He  there- 
fore made  ready  to  occupy  a  strong  position  on  Dor- 
chester Heights,  where  he  could  command  the  town 
and  the  harbor.  These  heights  are  now  within  what 
is  called  South  Boston. 

On  the  night  of  the  2d  of  March,  he  opened  his 

she  dispensed  gracious  hospitality.  She  made  use  of  the 
equipages  which  she  found  in  the  stable  of  the  Inman 
farm.  On  one  occasion  the  punctilious  authorities  of  Cam- 
bridge, denying  her  right  to  use  the  Inman  coach,  com- 
pelled her  to  alight  and  walk  home.  This  affront  stirred 
up  the  General  to  a  degree  of  indignation  that  was  ex- 
pressed in  language  vigorously  regardless  of  rules  of  ele- 
gant usage;  and  this  drew  from  the  meddlesome  officials 
a  suitable  letter  of  apology,  in  which  they  express  the 
"  highest  gratitude  "  for  the  "  extraordinary  services  "  he 
bad  rendered  to  the  town  of  Cambridge. 


SIEGE  OF  BOSTON. 

fires  from  an  opposite  direction  upon  the  city.  These 
he  kept  up  for  the  two  nights  following.  The  object 
of  this  was,  to  deceive  the  British  as  to  his  real  in- 
dentions;  so  that  when  they  looked  up  at  the  Heights 
on  the  morning  of  the  5th  of  March,  they  saw  the 
morning  of  the  17th  of  June  previous  acted  all  over 
again.  They  were  struck  with  terror.  They  saw 
that  the  Americans  now  had  it  in  their  power  to  do 
with  them  almost  what  they  chose.  They  had  but  one 
course  to  pursue,  and  that  was  to  retreat.  The  British 
commander  planned  an  expedition  against  the  forti- 
fied Americans,  under  the  command  of  Lord  Percy, 
but  it  amounted  to  nothing.  A  storm  succeeded  in 
scattering  the  boats  in  which  the  troops  had  em- 
barked, which  Washington  himself  very  deeply  re- 
gretted ;  for  had  it  occurred  otherwise,  he  was  sure 
that  the  entire  British  army  would  have  fallen  into 
his  hands.  His  own  plan  was  to  send  a  division  into 
the  city  from  another  quarter,  the  moment  the  force 
under  Lord  Percy  should  leave  it  to  attack  Dorches- 
ter Heights;  and  Gen.  Putnam  was  to  have  led  on 
this  assault,  with  four  thousand  men.  The  story  goes, 
that  while  this  plan  of  Washington's  was  under  dis- 
cussion in  the  council  of  officers,  Putnam  could  not  sit 
easy  in  his  chair,  but  kept  going  continually  to  the 
door  and  windows  to  look  out.  Washington  urged 
him  to  be  quiet, — to  sit  down  and  give  his  advice  aa 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

certain  questions  came  up  to  be  decided.  "  Oh,"  said 
Putnam,  "  you  may  plan  the  battle  to  suit  yourself, 
General,  and  I  will  fight  it !  "  Whether  true  or  not. 
it  is  characteristic  enough  to  be  quite  probable. 

Nook's  Hill — which  was  still  nearer  to  the  British 
— was  fortified  on  the  night  of  the  16th  of  March, 
and  then  they  knew  they  might  as  well  be  going.  Ac- 
cordingly they  made  all  possible  haste  to  embark. 
They  began  to  move  at  sunrise,  and  by  the  middle  of 
the  forenoon  were  on  board  their  vessels,  and  on  their 
way  out  to  sea.  This  was  glorious  news  indeed.  Bos- 
ton was  at  once  ordered  to  be  occupied  by  two  de- 
tachments of  troops,  under  command  of  Gen.  Put- 
nam. He  took  possession  of  all  the  fortifications 
which  were  thus  hastily  deserted,  amid  general  con- 
gratulations and  rejoicings.  It  is  related  that  the 
British  left  wooden  sentries  on  Bunker  Hill,  with 
muskets  fixed  upon  their  shoulders ;  but  they  inspired 
the  Americans  with  no  great  amount  of  fear,  and  did 
not  so  much  as  serve  to  draw  the  charge  from  a 
single  musket. 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

OPEEATIONS  IN  NEW  YOEK. 

THE  British  fleet,  with  all  the  troops  on  board, 
sailed  immediately  to  Halifax.  Gen.  Howe  expected 
at  that  point  to  be  reinforced  from  England,  before 
proceeding  to  make  any  further  demonstrations 
against  the  Colonists,  But  he  soon  found  his  quarters 
there  too  close  to  be  altogether  comfortable,  and  af- 
terwards left  for  New  York,  reaching  Staten  Island 
in  the  latter  part  of  June. 

Major  General  Lee,  having  had  time  merely  to 
plan  his  defences  in  and  around  New  York,  was 
ordered  in  haste  to  take  command  of  the  Southern 
army,  and  posted  off  to  South  Carolina  for  that  pur- 
pose. Putnam  was  sent  to  New  York  in  his  place, 
and  assumed  command  there  forthwith,  receiving  his 
orders  from  Gen.  Washington  on  the  29th  of  March, 
or  only  twelve  days  after  the  British  left  Boston. 
His  special  duty  was  to  complete  the  defences  that 
had  been  designed  by  Gen.  Lee,  and  to  put  the  army 
under  his  immediate  command  in  as  good  a  state  of 

173 


174          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

discipline  as  he  could.  His  head-quarters  in  New 
York  were  opposite  Bowling  Green.*  His  family 
were  with  him  there,  and  in  his  military  family  were, 
with  others,  Major  Aaron  Burr,f  his  own  son,  and 
Major — afterwards  Colonel — Humphreys,  who  wrote 
the  first  biography  of  the  old  soldier  that  was  ever 
read. 

Gen.  Putnam  had  hard  work  to  quell  the  feeling 
of  disaffection  which  he  found  to  be  so  common 
around  him.:}:  Oftentimes  plots  were  set  on  foot  by 

•Putnam  was  quartered  in  the  Kennedy  house  which 
stood  at  No.  1,  Broadway,  on  the  spot  where  the  Washing- 
ton Building  now  stands. 

f  When  Putnam's  aide-de-camp,  Webb,  was  transferred  to 
a  similar  position  under  Washington,  he  was  succeeded  by 
Major  Aaron  Burr,  who  was  at  that  time  twenty  years  of 
age.  Putnam  grew  very  fond  of  Burr,  but  the  latter  con- 
tracted such  feelings  of  hatred  against  Washington  that 
he  would  have  left  the  service  but  for  the  intervention  of 
John  Hancock,  president  of  Congress. 

t  New  York  was  an  aristocratic  town,  and  the  influence 
of  the  Tories  was  there  dominant.  The  conflicts  between 
the  two  parties  were  frequent  and  often  bitter.  The  pres- 
ence of  the  patriot  army  emboldened  the  whigs  to  per- 
petrate upon  their  rivals  acts  of  horse  play  that  astonished 
the  friends  of  their  victims.  One  instance  is  recorded  in 
the  diary  of  the  pastor  of  the  Moravian  Church.  "  Here 
in  town  very  unhappy  and  shocking  scenes  were  exhibited. 
On  Monday  night  some  men  called  Tories  were  carried  and 
hauled  down  through  the  streets,  with  candles  forced  to 
be  held  by  them,  or  pushed  in  their  faces,  and  their  heads 
burned;  but  on  Wednesday,  in  the  open  day,  the  scene 
was  by  far  worse;  several,  and  among  them  gentlemen, 


OPERATIONS  IN  NEW  YORK.  175 

Americans  who  favored  the  British  cause,  to  over- 
throw which  required  all  his  vigilance  and  industry. 
There  were  plenty  of  loyalists  on  Long  Island,  and  in 
!N"ew  Jersey,  who  were  not  at  all  backward  in  aiding 
the  designs  of  the  enemy,  by  performing  the  service 
of  spies  upon  the  doings  of  the  Americans.  At  one 
time  they  had  matured  a  plan  to  suddenly  seize  the 
person  of  Gen.  Putnam,  and  deliver  him  over  to  the 
British.  Putnam  declared  martial  law,  which  of 
course  subjected  the  city  to  strict  military  rule,  such 
as  prevails  in  a  camp.  No  inhabitant  was  allowed  to 
pass  any  sentry  at  night,  who  could  not  give  the 
countersign.  The  people,  likewise,  not  yet  having 
had  any  open  rupture  in  that  quarter  with  the  Brit- 
ish, were  in  the  habit  of  trading  with  their  vessels  in 
certain  commodities  that  were  wanted  by  them,  which 
of  course  produced  a  strikingly  bad  effect;  this 
traffic  General  Putnam  forthwith  stopped;  he  would 
not  tolerate  any  commerce  or  communication  between 
the  fleet  and  the  shore.  Those  who  were  taken  in  the 
act  of  going  to  and  fro  were  treated  as  open  enemies. 
He  appointed  an  Inspector  for  the  port,  whose  duty 
it  was,  among  other  things,  to  give  permits  to  the 
oystermen. 

were  carried  on  rails;  some  stripped  naked  and  dreadfully 
abused.  Some  of  the  generals,  and  especially  Putnam,  and 
their  forces  had  enough  to  quell  the  riot,  and  make  the 
mob  disperse." 


176          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

He  sent  a  body  of  a  thousand  men  over  to  fortify 
Governor's  Island,  and  also  threw  up  defences  at  Red 
Hook,  and  along  the  Jersey  shore.  The  great  ob- 
ject then  was,  to  prevent  the  British  from  landing; 
having  no  navy,  it  was  useless  for  the  Americans  to 
think  of  giving  any  trouble  to  the  enemy's  fleet  where 
it  was.  Finding  that  the  expected  reinforcements 
were  but  slow  in  coming  forward,  the  British  general 
again  put  to  sea,  hoping  perhaps  to  fall  in  with  them. 
Putnam,  however,  still  kept  at  work  according  to  the 
original  plan,  and  performed  a  vast  deal  of  labor, 
little  of  which  at  this  time  makes  any  show  on  record, 
in  rendering  the  city  safe  against  the  assaults  of  ene- 
mies either  without  or  within.  A  British  ship,  about 
this  time,  sent  a  boat  on  shore  for  refreshments,  con- 
taining a  midshipman  and  twelve  sailors.  Putnam 
ordered  an  attack  on  all  such  visitors,  agreeably  to 
which  order  two  of  this  boat's  crew  were  killed  and 
the  rest  taken  prisoners. 

Washington  left  Boston,  and  reached  New  York 
about  the  middle  of  April.  He  very  well  knew  that 
the  next  effort  of  the  British  would  be  to  strike  a  suc- 
cessful blow  here,  for,  with  a  base  line  for  operations 
like  New  York,  they  could  penetrate  northward  to 
Canada,  eastward  into  New  England,  or  westward 
into  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania.  Hence  his  exer- 
tions were  all  put  forth  to  prevent  the  city's  falling 


OPERATIONS  IN  NEW  YORK.  177 

into  their  hands.  Governor's  Island  had  been  forti- 
fied by  Gen.  Putnam  already;  which  effectually 
checked  the  entrance  of  the  ships  from  the  Narrows. 
Hulks  were  now  sunk  in  the  channels  of  East  River 
and  the  Hudson,  to  prevent  their  vessels  coming  up. 
The  great  need  about  the  fortifications  was  heavy 
cannon.  Could  the  Americans  have  been  properly 
supplied  with  these,  the  city  would  never  have  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  British  as  easily  as  it  afterwards 
did.  While  affairs  remained  in  this  posture,  Wash- 
ington went  on  to  Philadelphia,  to  exchange  views 
with  Congress,  which  was  still  in  session  there;  and 
during  his  absence  Putnam  again  resumed  the  chief 
command.  He  was  much  occupied,  in  the  absence  of 
the  Commander-in-Chief,  in  putting  down  the  secret 
schemes  and  plots  of  the  Tories,  many  of  whom  were 
to  be  found  in  the  lower  counties  near  the  city,  on 
Long  Island,  and  along  the  Connecticut  shore.  Sev- 
eral of  this  class  were  arrested,  and  one  was  finally 
tried  and  executed,  as  an  example.* 

*  What  is  known  as  the  "  Hickey  plot  "  takes  its  name 
from  Thomas  Hickey,  a  member  of  Washington's  Guard. 
He  was  bribed  by  the  Tories  to  organize  the  conspiracy, 
the  purpose  of  which  has  been  described  as  follows:  "  Every 
General  Officer  and  every  other  who  was  active  in  serving 
his  country  in  the  field  was  to  have  been  assassinated; 
our  cannon  were  to  be  spiked  up;  and  in  short  the  ac- 
cursed scheme  was  laid  to  give  us  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy  and  to  ruin  us."  The  plot  was  discovered  and  its 

12 


178          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

It  being  continually  expected  that  the  enemy  would 
soon  arrive  with  a  larger  fleet  and  army,  every  exer- 
tion was  made  to  be  ready  to  give  them  a  fitting  re- 
ception. Congress  recommended  the  building  of  fire- 
boats,  or  rafts,  to  oppose  the  ships  in  their  entrance 
from  the  Narrows ;  and  to  this  subject  Gen.  Putnam 
gave  his  immediate  and  earnest  attention.  The  ex- 
pectation of  the  daily  arrival  of  a  large  British  fleet 
was  not  a  vain  one ;  for  Howe's  brother — Lord  Howe, 
or  Admiral  Howe,  as  he  was  called, — soon  made  his 
appearance  off  New  York,  with  reinforcements  that 
at  once  gave  the  conflict  a  much  more  serious  charac- 
ter than  it  had  even  assumed  before.  This  arrival  oc- 
curred about  the  middle  of  July.  Just  previous  to 
this  event,  however,  the  immortal  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence had  been  passed  by  the  Continental  Con- 
gress in  Philadelphia,  declaring  the  Colonies  of 
North  America  no  longer  Colonies  of  Great  Britain, 
but  free  and  independent  States.  This  was  a  step 
forward,  and,  for  those  times,  quite  a  long  one.  It 
was  extremely  doubtful  how  this  act  on  the  part  of 
Congress  would  be  received  by  the  army,  and  much 
anxiety  was  for  a  time  felt  concerning  it.  John  Han- 
cock, the  President  of  the  American  Congress,  sent 

leader  promptly  hanged.  Very  soon  after  this,  the  large 
British  fleet,  numbering  forty-five  vessels  arrived  in  New 
York  Bay. 


OPERATIONS  IN  NEW  YORK.  179 

a  copy  of  it  to  Gen.  Washington,  who  immediately 
caused  it  to  be  read  at  the  head  of  the  army,  at  six 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  accompanying  his  order  with 
the  recommendations  of  a  true  and  large-souled 
patriot. 

Together  with  the  force  under  Admiral  Howe, 
and  that  of  Gen.  Clinton,  who  had  also  returned  at 
about  the  same  time  from  the  south,  Gen.  Howe  was 
placed  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  nearly  twenty-five 
thousand  men,  the  very  flower  of  the  European  arm- 
ies. Many  of  these  were  troops  that  had  been  hired 
for  the  war  by  England,  who  were  called  mercenaries. 
The  Hessians  were  of  this  character.  These  troops 
were  experienced  in  the  art  of  war,  and  were  already 
in  a  very  high  state  of  discipline.  Against  them  the 
American  Commander  could  muster  only  about  seven- 
teen thousand  men,  raw  militiamen,  but  ten  thousand 
of  whom  were  said  to  be  good  for  anything  like  active 
service.  The  design  of  the  British  General  was  to 
pass  up  the  Hudson,  and,  by  preventing  any  further 
union  between  the  people  of  the  Eastern  and  Middle 
States,  to  conquer  the  one  and  put  a  stop  to  what  was 
still  considered  only  a  growing  disaffection  in  the 
other.  Accordingly,  not  long  after  their  arrival  off 
Staten  Island,  two  vessels  of  war  set  out  and  run  the 
gauntlet  of  the  American  fortifications,  on  their  way 
up  the  Hudson.  The  American  guns  opened  on  them 


180          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

as  they  passed,  but  the  wind  being  favorable,  they  re- 
ceived little  or  no  damage ;  by  taking  advantage,  also, 
of  a  very  high  tide,  the  enemy's  vessels  cleared  the 
sunken  hulks  without  any  difficulty.  After  passing 
the  forts,  they  anchored  in  Tappan  Zee,  a  broad  part 
of  the  river  some  forty  miles  above  the  city.  In  this 
position  they  could  not  be  reached  from  the  shore,  and 
they  could  intercept  whatever  supplies  came  down  the 
river  for  the  American  army. 

The  most  that  could  be  done  by  the  American  com- 
mander to  annoy  the  enemy  in  their  new  position  was 
done  faithfully.  To  this  end  fire-boats  were  con- 
structed, and  chevaux-de-frise  was  sunk  across  the 
river.  Fourteen  fire-ships  were  prepared  to  sail 
secretly  among  the  enemy's  vessels  of  war,  and  de- 
stroy them  by  burning.  But,  as  it  turned  out,  noth- 
ing came  of  all  these  ingenious  devices.  The  Ameri- 
cans should  have  had  a  well-equipped  navy,  in  order 
to  compete  successfully  with  the  enemy  hovering  on 
their  coasts.  There  was  one  invention,  however,  that 
excited  a  great  deal  of  interest  then,  and  deserves  to 
be  mentioned  in  this  place.  It  was  a  marine  appar- 
atus, called  the  "  American  Turtle,"  and  was  the  de- 
vice of  a  man  by  the  name  of  Bushnell,  belonging  to 
Connecticut.  It  was  a  machine,  shaped  as  nearly 
like  a  turtle  as  might  be,  large  enough  in  its  interior 
to  contain  a  man,  and  provided  with  a  galvanic  ap- 


OPERATIONS  IN  NEW  YORK.  181 

paratus  and  a  supply  of  powder  with  which,  after 
having  first  secured  the  powder  to  the  bottom  of  the 
enemy's  vessel,  to  produce  an  explosion.  The  man 
sitting  within  it  could  row  himself  about  in  any  di- 
rection, and  was  furnished  with  lead  ballast  to  sink 
himself  out  of  sight  below  the  surface  of  the  water. 

It  so  chanced  that  Bushnell  could  not  accompany 
this  machine  on  the  expedition  for  which  it  was  de- 
signed, and  so  a  fellow  named  Bije  (Abijah)  Ship- 
man  was  procured  in  his  place.  Putnam,  with  sev- 
eral other  officers,  went  down  to  the  shore,  early  one 
morning,  the  design  being  to  drift  down  the  stream 
and  fasten  his  explosive  instrument  underneath  the 
flag-ship  of  Admiral  Howe, — the  Eagle.  Just  as  he 
was  about  to  ensconce  himself  within  the  curious 
craft,  he  must  needs  imagine  that  he  could  not  get 
along  without  a  quid  of  tobacco.  He  struck  his  head 
out  of  his  hiding-place,  and  told  Gen.  Putnam  that  he 
must  have  a  fresh  cud,  the  old  cud  in  his  mouth 
would  not  last  him  half  the  way  there.  None  of  the 
officers  could  just  then  supply  his  want,  though  they 
promised  him  all  he  wanted  at  a  future  time.  He 
declared  he  knew  the  plan  would  fail,  and  all  for  the 
want  of  a  fresh  chew  of  tobacco !  It  did  fail.  Put- 
nam watched  late  into  the  morning  to  witness  the  ex- 
plosion under  the  Admiral's  ship,  but  none  took 
place.  He  studied  the  proceeding  keenly  -through  his 


182         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

glass,  and  at  last  descried  the  little  black  object  drift- 
ing away  just  to  the  left  of  the  Eagle.  It  had  not 
come  up  quite  in  the  right  place.  The  sentinels  on 
board  the  ship  saw  it  as  it  rose,  and  fired  off  their 
muskets  at  the  strange  object.  "  Bije  "  went  under 
as  if  they  had  sunk  him  with  their  shot.  He  had  de- 
tached his  powder  magazine,  which  exploded  in  about 
an  hour  after,  as  designed,  throwing  up  a  tremendous 
spout  of  water  all  around.  The  Eagle,  as  well  as  the 
other  vessels  of  the  fleet  near  by,  made  haste  to  lift 
their  anchors  out  of  the  mud  and  sail  away.  Erom 
that  day  until  Xew  York  finally  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  British,  their  vessels  kept  at  a  very  safe  and 
respectful  distance,  "  Bije  "  declared  that  he  got 
his  turtle  under  the  Eagle,  as  intended ;  but,  on  the 
first  trial,  the  screw  with  which  he  was  to  secure  the 
powder-magazine  to  her  bottom  struck  against  a  piece 
of  iron ;  this  made  him  "  narvous,"  and  he  could  do 
nothing  afterwards !  It  all  fell  through,  just  because 
he  was  obliged  to  hurry  off  without  a  fresh  cud  of  to- 
bacco !  * 


*  David  Bushnell,  the  inventor  of  the  torpedo,  was  too 
frail  in  body  to  endure  the  labor  of  rowing  it.  He  however 
taught  his  brother  to  manage  it  perfectly.  The  latter  was 
unfortunately  down  with  a  fever  at  this  time,  and  so  the 
work  was  committed  to  the  care  of  Shipman,  who  was 
not  trained  to  it.  Whether  the  "  chaw  "  of  tobacco  would 
have  made  good  his  lack  of  skill  and  training  is  a  matter 


OPERATIONS  IN  NEW  YORK.  183 

Washington  ordered  Gen.  Greene  to  take  up  his  po- 
sition at  Brooklyn,  on  Long  Island,  which  was 
strongly  fortified  against  an  attack  from  the  Island, 
by  a  line  of  defences  extending  around  from  Walla- 
bout  Bay  to  Gowanus's  Bay.  These  were  considered 
sufficient  protection  against  the  approaches  of  the 
British  by  the  land,  while  other  defences  furnished 
security  against  attacks  by  sea.  Behind  these  de- 
fences, stretching  from  one  bay  to  the  other,  was  a 
high  ridge, — or  back-bone,  so  to  call  it, — thickly  cov- 
ered with  a  growth  of  wood.  There  were  only  three 
places  where  they  could  be  traversed  by  a  force  of  cav- 
alry, or  through  which  artillery  could  be  taken ;  and 
at  these  three  points  were  roads,  regularly  con- 
structed, which  led  from  the  ferry  at  the  Narrows  to 
Brooklyn  itself. 

Unfortunately  enough,  Gen.  Greene  fell  sick  of  a 
fever,  just  at  this  critical  time,  and  the  command 
devolved  on  Gen.  Sullivan.  On  the  22d  day  of  Aug- 
ust, the  British,  under  command  of  Gen.  Clinton, 
commenced  landing  from  their  ships,  being  well  pro- 
tected by  their  guns.  They  made  one  encampment 
at  Flatland,  and  another,  chiefly  of  Hessians,  at 
Flatbush.  The  British  were  divided,  in  fact,  into 

of  conjecture.  The  explosion  certainly  had  the  effect  of 
instilling  into  the  British  no  small  degree  of  terror,  though 
It  did  fail  to  destroy  the  flag-ship. 


184          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

three  sections;  a  right,  a  centre,  and  a  left.  Lord 
Cornwallis  commanded  the  first,  De  Heister  the  sec- 
ond, and  Grant  the  third.  The  wooded  heights 
formed  the  natural  barrier  between  ths  two  armies. 
If  the  British,  therefore,  were  to  fall  upon  the  Amer- 
ican forces,  they  could  hope  to  reach  them  only  by 
one  of  the  three  roads,  or  passes,  above  mentioned. 

Washington  sent  over  Gen.  Putnam  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  camp  in  Brooklyn,  on  Sunday,  the  25th 
day  of  August.  The  battle — called  the  Battle  of 
Long  Island  in  history — took  place  on  the  27th. 
"With  Putnam  likewise  went  over  a  reinforcement  of 
troops,  consisting  of  six  battalions.  The  directions 
were  particularly  to  protect  the  passes  through  the 
woods  by  every  means  possible.  Gen.  Sullivan  had 
pushed  forward  from  the  American  camp  in  Brook- 
lyn, and  erected  a  strong  redoubt  on  the  heights  that 
commanded  Flatbush,  where  the  Hessians  lay  in 
force. 

To  the  east  of  the  wood,  there  was  a  narrow  pass 
that  conducted  from  Jamaica  to  Bedford,  and  so  to 
the  rear  of  the  American  works  occupied  by  Gen. 
Sullivan.  This  was  so  circuitous  to  reach  that  it  was 
thought  the  point  least  in  danger ;  and  perhaps,  also, 
in  consequence  of  the  sudden  illness  of  Gen.  Greene 
and  the  consequent  change  of  command,  its  impor- 
tance as  a  post  in  the  entire  plan  of  defences  had  not 


OPERATIONS  IN  NEW  YORK.  185 

received  quite  as  much  attention  as  it  deserved.  Gen. 
Clinton  found  out  that  the  party  which  guarded  this 
pass  was  not  so  strong  but  that  they  might  be  easily 
overcome;  and  in  order  to  take  timely  advantage  of 
the  discovery,  he  left  his  camp  at  Flatland,  at  nine 
o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  26th,  and  stealthily 
marched  round  to  surprise  the  militia  stationed  there. 
He  reached  the  place  just  before  the  day  dawned; 
and  so  unexpected  was  his  approach,  that  the  entire 
party  surrendered  themselves  prisoners,  without  offer- 
ing any  resistance.  This  single  point  turned  the  en- 
tire fortunes  of  the  day. 

Clinton  had  previously  arranged,  that  at  about  the 
time  when  he  should  have  taken  this  pass,  the  right 
division  should  make  demonstrations  on  the  Ameri- 
can left,  or  against  the  other  extreme  of  their  lines, 
in  order  to  draw  off  their  attention  from  the  real 
danger.  These  arrangements  were  carried  out  to  the 
letter,  and  with  surprising  success.  Gen.  De  Heister 
also  made  a  simultaneous  attack  with  his  Hessians 
upon  Gen.  Sullivan's  redoubt  over  Flatbush.  But 
neither  attack  was  intended  to  be  much  more  than 
a  feint  to  keep  the  Americans  from  any  suspicion  of 
the  real  design.  So  that  Clinton  finally  stole  unob- 
served through  the  easterly  pass,  leading  from  Ja- 
maica, with  the  van  of  the  British  army,  supplied 
with  all  the  artillery  and  cavalry  he  would  be  likely 


186          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

to  require,  and  successfully  turned  the  American  left. 
And  not  until  the  British  had,  in  fact,  come  round 
and  suddenly  burst  on  the  American  rear,  were  the 
latter  aware  of  their  danger.  De  Heister  now  seri- 
ously attacked  Gen.  Sullivan's  works  in  the  centre, 
while  Clinton  came  upon  them  in  the  rear.  There 
they  were,  hemmed  in  between  two  divisions  of  a 
hostile  army.  There  was  no  alternative  but  to  sur- 
render, and  Sullivan  did  surrender.  He  was  taken 
prisoner  himself,  as  well  as  a  large  part  of  the  force 
under  his  immediate  command.  Many  of  the  Amer- 
icans, however,  fought  their  desperate  way  through 
the  enemy  that  pressed  hotly  upon  them,  and  re- 
treated in  safety  to  the  camp  at  Brooklyn. 

At  the  same  time  that  the  battle  was  going  on 
between  the  American  centre  and  the  British  centre, 
as  above  described,  Gen.  Grant  was  bringing  up  the 
British  left  to  attack  the  American  right,  commanded 
by  Lord  Stirling.  This  resulted  also  in  a  rout  of 
the  latter  force,  most  of  whom,  however,  made  good 
their  way  back  to  Brooklyn.  Stirling  was  himself 
taken  prisoner,  together  with  the  body  of  militia  he 
had  led  forward  to  the  vigorous  assault  which  he 
made  upon  the  enemy  in  order  the  better  to  cover 
the  retreat  of  the  remainder.  Sullivan  did  all  that 
a  brave  man,  suddenly  surrounded  by  an  enemy  far 
superior  in  numbers,  could  have  hoped  to  do.  He 


OPERATIONS  IN  NEW  YORK.  187 

fought  bravely  for  two  long  hours,  maintaining  his 
ground  for  that  time  against  odds  that  would  have 
appalled  many  a  commander  less  courageous  and  self- 
reliant  than  he. 

Gen.  Washington  came  over  from  New  York  dur- 
ing the  heat  of  the  engagement,  and,  from  the  camp 
in  Brooklyn,  himself  witnessed  the  hopeless  loss  of 
the  day.  The  British  were  two  against  the  Ameri- 
cans' one,  and  our  troops  were  in  all  respects  inferior 
to  those  whom  they  were  called  to  meet.  The  Com- 
mander-in-chief could  not  suppress  his  deep  excite- 
ment at  seeing  the  havoc  thus  suddenly  produced  by 
the  enemy;  yet  there  was  nothing  that  he  could  do 
then  to  retrieve  the  fallen  fortunes  of  his  army.* 
Gen.  Putnam  continued  to  carry  out  his  orders  in 
strengthening  the  defences  of  the  camp,  and  provid- 
ing for  the  next  step  that  had  already  been  decided 
on.  For  it  became  instantly  evident  that  the  Amer- 
icans could  not  hold  their  present  position.  They 
must  either  risk  another  attack  from  Clinton  which 
could  terminate  only  in  signal  disaster,  or  take  coun- 
sel of  prudence,  and  retreat. f 

*  As  he  looked  on  that  desperate  encounter,  in  which  the 
struggling  patriots  were  hopelessly  forced  back,  he  ex- 
claimed: "Good  God!  what  brave  fellows  I  must  this  day 
lose  !" 

f  "  The  cause  of  the  defeat,"  writes  Livingston,  "  is  appar- 
ent at  once.  The  flanking  force  on  the  Jamaica  Road  out- 


188 

Washington  chose  the  latter.  Had  the  British  pur- 
sued their  success  without  any  delay,  they  would  un- 
questionably have  struck  the  last  and  heaviest  blow  at 
the  American  Revolution ;  it  would  then  have  ap- 
peared on  the  pages  of  history  only  as  a  rebellion. 
But  in  the  very  flush  and  excitement  of  victory,  they 
suffered  the  main  advantage,  and  their  only  perma- 
nent advantage,  too,  to  escape  them.  The  neglect 
was  very  similar  to  that  of  which  they  were  guilty 
immediately  after  carrying  the  works  on  Bunker 
Hill.*  There  were  less  than  five  thousand  Americans 
in  this  battle,  on  the  27th  of  August,  of  which  num- 
ber the  army  lost  some  eleven  hundred,  and  the  most 
of  those,  prisoners.  The  estimate  goes  that  nearly 
two  thirds  of  all  who  were  engaged  were  under  Lord 
Stirling,  on  the  American  right,  the  greater  part  of 
whom  effected  t)ieir  retreat  to  the  camp  in  perfect 
safety.  The  prisoners  taken  comprised  the  small  par- 
ties at  the  pass  on  the  Jamaica  road,  who  were  cap- 


numbered  the  whole  American  army.  The  wonder  .  .  . 
is  not  that  five  thousand  half-trained  soldiers  were  de- 
feated by  twenty  thousand  veterans,  but  that  they  should 
have  given  General  Howe  a  hard  day's  work  in  defeating 
them,  thus  leading  the  British  general  to  pause  and  giving 
Washington  time  to  plan  the  withdrawal  of  his  army  from 
its  exposed  situation." 

*  It  is  probable  that  General  Howe  learned  from  his  ex- 
perience at  Bunker  Hill  to  be  extremely  cautious  in  attack- 
ing Americans  who  were  fully  intrenched. 


OPERATIONS  IN  NEW  YORK.  189 

tured  by  Clinton  before  daybreak,  and  the  body  tinder 
Gen.  Sullivan,  who  found  themselves  suddenly  beset 
on  one  side  by  the  Hessians,  and  on  the  other  by  the 
British,  under  Clinton,  who  had  stolen  around  and 
fallen  upon  their  rear. 

The  enemy,  instead  of  pushing  forward  at  the 
moment  of  victory,  contented  themselves  with  sitting 
down  before  the  American  defences,  and  at  once  be- 
gan to  erect  batteries  from  which  to  assail  them. 
Clinton  fell  to  this  work  with  energy,  on  the  very 
next  night  after  the  battle.  On  that  same  night,  too, 
Washington  and  Putnam  silently  removed  their 
camp,  with  all  its  provisions,  equipage,  ammunition, 
and  general  accompaniments,  and  went  over  the  river. 
There  were  nine  thousand  men  to  be  got  across,  and  it 
must  all  be  done  in  a  few  hours,  and  in  perfect 
silence.  Washington  proved  himself  equal  to  so  won- 
derful a  task;  one  which  has  rarely  been  equalled, 
certainly  never  surpassed,  in  the  annals  of  successful 
or  unsuccessful  war.  The  British  sentinels  descried 
the  American  rear-guard  crossing  over  in  the  midst 
of  the  fog,  just  as  the  day  broke  in  the  east.  The 
latter  were  clear  out  of  reach  of  the  enemy's  guns, 
and  had  eluded  them  in  a  way  they  least  expected. 

The  entire  American  army,  therefore,  now  lay  con- 
centrated in  New  York.  Governor's  Island  was  aban- 
doned, and  all  the  troops  were  called  in.  The  British 


190          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

possessed  themselves  of  the  deserted  positions  on  Long 
Island  without  any  delay,  and  thus  the  two  armies 
were  separated  only  by  the  narrow  breadth  of  East 
River,  at  the  farthest  point  not  more  than  a  half  mile 
across. 


CHAPTEE  X. 

BETKEAT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  AEMY. 

rA.  LOXG  line  of  fortifications  was  at  once  erected 
by  the  British  on  Long  Island.  A  portion  of  their 
fleet  sailed  around  and  entered  the  Sound  at  its  east- 
ern extremity,  but  the  main  body  of  it  remained  at 
anchor  not  far  from  Governor's  Island,  to  operate 
in  the  direction  of  either  the  East  or  Hudson  river, 
as  the  case  might  be. 

"Washington's  quick  eye  saw  what  was  the  enemy's 
object,  at  a  glance.  They  intended  to  cut  off  his 
communication  with  the  back  country,  and  by  sur- 
rounding him  and  his  army  where  they  then  were — 
on  ISTew  York  Island, — to  compel  a  speedy  surrender, 
and  so  bring  the  war  at  once  to  a  close.  In  order  to 
foil  the  enemy,  he  proceeded  to  send  off  the  stores 
that  were  not  immediately  required  for  the  army. 
Next  he  formed  the  army  into  three  divisions,  one 
of  which  remained  to  defend  the  city,  which  was 
placed  under  command  of  General  Putnam, — one  was 
sent  to  Kingsbridge,  some  distance  up  the  island, 
— and  one  was  stationed  between  the  other  two,  so  as 
191 


192         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

to  be  ready  to  go  to  the  help  of  either  in  case  of 
an  attack.  Thus  they  remained  from  the  8th  of  Sep- 
tember until  the  12th.  It  was  plain  that  an  assault 
was  to  made  very  soon,  and  a  council  of  war  at 
last  concluded  it  was  best  to  evacuate  the  city  forth- 
with. The  stores  had  already  been  removed,  and  were 
now  safe.  On  the  15th  of  September  the  retreat  it- 
self began.  It  commenced  a  little  sooner  than  was 
at  first  intended,  on  account  of  an  attack  from  the 
enemy  at  Kip's  Bay,  some  three  miles  above  the  city. 
The  Americans  who  were  stationed  there  fled  in  a 
cowardly  manner  when  they  saw  the  enemy  approach- 
ing, and  the  reinforcement  of  two  brigades  sent  up 
from  the  city  by  Putnam,  likewise  turned  and  fled 
as  soon  as  they  came  in  sight  of  the  deserted  works. 
Washington  hurried  to  the  spot  in  a  towering  excite- 
ment, and  with  his  flashing  sword  ordered  the  panic- 
stricken  men  whom  he  met  to  turn  back  and  give  the 
enemy  battle.  But  neither  menaces  nor  personal  ex- 
ample availed.  For  himself  he  appeared  perfectly 
reckless.  He  was  left  almost  alone  within  eighty 
yards  of  the  enemy,  who  were  already  beginning  to 
surround  him ;  and  had  not  some  of  the  soldiers  who 
were  near  sprang  forward  and  forcibly  turned  his 
horse  by  the  bridle,  he  must  have  been  taken  pris- 
oner.* 

*  The  noise  of  the  fighting  at  Kipp's  Bay  was  heard  by 


RETREAT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ARMY.          193 

Upon  this  movement,  the  Americans  fell  back  upon 
Harlem  Heights.  The  British  ships — a  part  of  them 
— three  days  afterwards  moved  towards  the  upper 
end  of  the  island  on  the  Hudson  river  side,  and  an- 
chored opposite  Bloomingdale.  Putnam  retreated 
last  from  the  city,  and  of  course  was  exposed  to  a 
double  danger;  he  had  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  the 
enemy  now  occupying  the  main  road  on  the  easterly 
side  of  the  island,  and  the  fire  of  the  ships  that  had 
taken  position  on  the  Hudson  at  Bloomingdale.  He 
chose  the  latter  route  for  his  retreat,  and  began  his 
rapid  march.  It  was  an  extremely  sultry  day,  and 
the  men  were  quite  overcome  with  the  heat  and  fa- 

both  Washington  and  Putnam,  and  the  two  generals  started 
in  haste  for  the  scene.  By  chance  they  met,  and  Putnam 
was  present  when  Washington  tried  in  vain  to  rally  his 
men.  This  was  one  of  the  occasions  when  the  calm  and 
self-contained  commander-in-chief  completely  lost  control 
of  his  temper.  He  rode  among  the  panic-stricken  soldiers, 
roundly  abusing  them  for  their  cowardice,  and  even  strik- 
ing some  of  them  with  his  cane.  Putnam,  too,  did  his  ut- 
most to  rally  the  men.  Then  it  occurred  to  him  that  if 
the  British  were  able  to  extend  their  lines  across  from 
the  Hudson  to  the  East  River,  the  patriot  army  would  be 
caught  in  a  trap  and  forced  to  surrender.  Their  only  hope 
of  safety,  therefore,  was  to  escape  at  once.  Accordingly 
he  rode  back  to  the  city  at  full  gallop  to  get  his  troops 
away  while  there  was  time.  His  aide-de-camp  Burr  had 
divined  the  situation  tolerably  accurately  and  started  the 
troops  at  once.  Thus  Putnam,  on  his  return,  found  his 
army  already  in  motion;  which  was  very  fortunate,  for 
at  that  crisis  the  fate  of  the  cause  hung  upon  the  few 
minutes  of  prompt  marching. 


194         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

tigue.  They  fell  fainting  by  the  side  of  the  road,  as 
they  hurried  on ;  they  stopped  to  slake  their  feverish 
thirst  at  the  brooks,  and  lay  down  and  died  while  in 
the  act  of  drinking.  The  exertions  made  that  day  by 
General  Putnam  were  almost  superhuman.  He 
pushed  his  horse  to  the  top  of  his  speed,  riding  from 
one  end  of  his  division  to  the  other.  The  animal 
was  flecked  with  foam.  Major  Humphreys,  his  biog- 
rapher, who  was  with  him  on  that  trying  occasion, 
wrote  that  when  they  had  nearly  reached  Blooming- 
dale,  an  aide-de-camp  came  from  Putnam  at  full 
speed,  to  inform  the  regiment  to  which  he  belonged 
that  a  column  of  British  infantry  was  close  upon  their 
right.  The  regiment  filed  off  rapidly  to  the  left, 
and  their  rear  was  fired  upon  just  as  they  had  slipped 
past  the  line  which  the  British  had  now  succeeded 
in  drawing  across  from  river  to  river.*  The  Colonel 
of  the  regiment  was  shot  down  and  killed  on  the  spot. 
The  other  divisions  of  the  army  had  given  up  General 
Putnam's  command  for  lost;  and  it  was  not  until 
after  dark  that  his  brigades  all  came  in  safety  inside 

*  It  is  said  that  if  the  British  had  been  ten  minutes 
earlier  they  would  have  cut  off  Putnam's  retreat  and  cap- 
tured his  army.  Their  mistake  was  in  their  over  confi- 
dence. They  supposed  that  their  victory  at  Kipp's  Bay 
settled  matters,  and  so  they  moved  with  deliberation.  The 
clever  trick  of  Mrs.  Murray,  narrated  in  the  next  para- 
graph, was  one  of  the  factors  that  saved  the  army. 


RETREAT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ARMY.          195 

the  lines.  Considering  the  many  difficulties  with 
which  Putnam  had  to  contend,  his  safe  retreat  is  to  he 
set  down  as  a  truly  wonderful  performance. 

Sir  Henry  Clinton  had  hurried  over  from  Kip's 
Bay,  on  the  easterly  side,  expecting  to  cut  off  Put- 
nam's force,  should  it  previously  have  escaped  the 
snares  set  for  it  below.  In  the  pursuit  of  this  plan, 
it  was  necessary  for  him  to  pass  along  the  east  of 
Murray  Hill,  and  intercept  the  Americans  at  a  point 
beyond.  On  Murray  Hill  lived  a  gentle  but  very 
shrewd  Quaker  lady,  the  mother  of  the  well-known 
grammarian,  Lindley  Murray.  General  Putnam 
sent  forward  a  message  to  her,  requesting  her,  when 
Sir  Henry  Clinton  should  reach  her  house,  to  detain 
him  by  some  innocent  stratagem  until  the  American 
army  could  have  time  to  get  beyond  his  reach.  The 
course  of  the  latter  lay  to  the  west  of  the  hill,  and  so 
on  northwardly.  Presently  the  British  general  came 
along.  Mrs.  Murray  was  known  to  several  of  the  of- 
ficers, and  it  was  thought  no  more  than  an  act  of  court- 
esy in  her  to  go  to  the  door  and  invite  them  all  in  to 
take  a  glass  of  wine.  They  were  glad  to  accept  such 
an  invitation,  and  accordingly  went  in  and  sat  down 
to  her  hospitalities.  The  ladies  present  engaged  the 
officers  in  agreeable  conversation,  and  they  very  soon 
became  oblivious  how  time  was  flying.  Presently 
a  negro  servant,  who  had  been  stationed  by  his  mis- 


196          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

tress  on  the  top  of  the  house  to  keep  watch,  entered 
the  room  and  gave  the  sign  previously  agreed  on. 
Upon  which  Mrs.  Murray  begged  Sir  Henry  Clinton 
to  step  out  after  her,  as  she  had  something  she 
wished  to  show  him.  He  followed  her  in  silence  to 
the  observatory  on  the  house-top;  and  she  then 
pointed  triumphantly  to  the  retreating  column  of 
Americans  in  the  distance,  already  marching  over  the 
plains  of  Bloomingdale.  The  General  did  not  so 
much  as  stop  to  take  his  leave,  much  less  to  thank 
his  fair  hostess  for  her  hospitalities;  but  dashed  at 
a  headlong  pace  down  the  stairs,  mounted  his  horse, 
and  called  on  his  troops  to  follow  after  at  the  top 
of  their  speed.  But  his  intended  victims  had  quite 
escaped  him.  The  hospitable  ruse  of  the  lady  had 
done  its  work  well. 

The  British  under  General  Howe  were  thus  in  full 
possession  of  New  York,  a  portion  of  their  force 
occupying  the  city,  but  the  greater  part  being  pushed 
forward  to  the  upper  end  of  the  island.  They 
stretched  their  hostile  lines  across  from  one  river  to 
the  other.  Up  at  Kingsbridge  were  the  Americans, 
as  strongly  fortified  as  their  position  allowed.  Ad- 
vanced posts  were  also  occupied  by  the  American 
troops,  at  one  of  which  General  Putnam  was  placed 
in  command.  Parties  of  the  enemy  appeared  in  the 
plains  between  the  two  hostile  camps,  shortly  after 


RETREAT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ARMY.          197 

the  retreat  of  the  Americans  to  Kingsbridge.  Lieut. 
Col.  Knowlton, — a  very  brave  young  officer  from 
Connecticut,  who  served  at  the  rail-fence  during  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill, — came  in  and  reported  to  the 
Commander-in-chief  the  strength  of  one  of  these  skir- 
mishing parties.  He  was  immediately  ordered  to 
make  a  circuit  and  gain  the  enemy's  rear,  at  the 
same  time  that  an  attack  was  made  on  them  in  front. 
The  enemy  saw  fit  to  change  their  position  before 
Knowlton  became  aware  of  it,  and  he  fell  upon  them 
rather  in  flank  than  in  rear.  In  the  heat  of  the  con- 
flict, to  which  he  led  his  men  forward  with  very 
marked  bravery,  he  fell,  pierced  with  the  enemy's 
bullets.  His  wounds  proved  mortal;  but  the  men 
under  him  maintained  their  ground,  and  finally  drove 
the  British  from  their  position  entirely.  Xo  one  in 
the  army  felt  the  death  of  Knowlton  more  than  Gen- 
eral Putnam.  He  was  his  particular  pet  and  fav- 
orite; he  had  served  under  him  in  the  French  and 
Indian  war,  was  also  present  at  the  taking  of  Mon- 
treal, and  bore  a  part  in  the  memorable  hardships 
attendant  on  the  Havana  expedition.  He  was  born 
but  a  few  miles  above  Pomfret,  in  the  town  of  Ash- 
ford,  and  had  risen  from  rank  to  rank  in  the  army 
with  great  rapidity.  General  Washington  lamented 
his  death  in  his  general  orders  of  the  next  day,  taking 
the  same  occasion  to  hold  him  up  to  the  army  as  an 


198          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

example  of  bravery  well  worth  their  emulation.  In 
contrasting  the  conduct  of  the  men  on  that  day  with 
their  cowardly  conduct  at  Kip's  Bay,  Washington  ob- 
served that  this  last  skirmish  showed  "  what  may  be 
done,  where  officers  and  soldiers  will  exert  them- 
selves." 

The  policy  of  the  British  commander  now,  as  the 
armies  lay  opposite  one  another,  was  to  bring  on  a 
general  engagement.  Washington,  however,  was 
averse  to  putting  so  much  to  hazard.  While  he  felt 
very  certain  that  in  a  pitched  battle  he  could  hardly 
expect  anything  but  defeat,  he  was  also  quite  as  well 
satisfied  that  he  had  it  in  his  power  to  harass  the 
enemy  to  the  last  extremity  of  endurance.  Upon  this 
latter,  and  only  remaining  plan,  therefore,  he  had  at 
last  determined.* 

But  General  Howe  was  not  yet  willing  to  give  over 
all  further  efforts  to  tempt,  or  force,  the  American 
commander  into  the  field.  Disappointed,  however,  in 
one  way,  he  was  none  the  less  ready  to  try  another. 

*  The  two  armies  lay  facing  each  other  for  about  a 
month.  During  this  time  Putnam's  men  executed  one  of 
their  dare-devil  feats.  On  the  plain  below  his  camp,  and 
between  his  line  and  that  of  the  British,  there  was  a  fine 
field  of  wheat  ready  for  the  harvest.  Putnam's  men  went 
out  at  night  and  succeeded  in  gathering  in  about  one  half 
the  crop,  when  the  dawning  of  the  day  revealed  the  harves- 
ters. The  British  came  down  in  greatly  superior  numbers, 
and  Putnam's  men  withdrew  with  their  prize  without  giv- 
ing battle, 


RETREAT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ARMY.          199 

Accordingly  he  set  on  foot  a  plan  to  gain  their  rear, 
cut  them  off  from  all  communication  with  supplies 
in  the  back  country,  and,  having  thus  surrounded 
them,  to  force  them  to  lay  down  their  arms.  Nothing 
was  more  plausible,  in  the  way  of  a  plan,  and  the  re- 
sults expected  from  it  would  be  very  certain  to  follow ; 
but  the  trouble  arose  in  the  attempt  to  carry  it  out 
into  practice.  Still,  Howe  was  eager  to  make  such, 
an  attempt.  For  this  purpose,  he  ordered  several  ves- 
sels of  war  up  the  Hudson,  which  managed  to  pass 
Forts  Washington  and  Lee  without  receiving  any  ma- 
terial damage;  a  few  days  afterwards  he  took  with 
him,  in  flat  bottomed  boats,  a  large  part  of  his  army 
up  through  Hell  Gate,  and  landed  at  Throg's  Neck, 
not  far  from  the  village  of  Westchester.  This  was 
about  nine  miles  above  the  American  encampment  on 
the  heights  of  Harlem. 

The  British  next  set  out  across  the  country  in  the 
direction  of  White  Plains.  The  American  force  lay 
stretched  along  a  line  some  dozen  miles  in  extent,  all 
the  way  from  Kingsbridge  to  White  Plains.  They 
invariably  held  possession  of  the  heights  along  the 
route,  which  gave  them  every  desirable  natural  advan- 
tage. As  General  Howe  had  now  disposed  the  two 
armies  by  his  new  movement,  the  little  Bronx  river 
was  all  that  lay  between  them.  On  the  other  bank  of 
the  Bronx,  and  about  a  mile  from  the  main  body,  was 


200          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

posted  Gen.  McDougall,  with  fifteen  hundred  militia. 
He  occupied  a  hill  also,  and  it  was  easy  for  his  men 
to  wade  the  river  over  to  the  main  body,  at  the  point 
where  he  was  stationed.  Howe  determined  to  attack 
this  position  of  Gen.  McDougall,  for  which  purpose 
he  despatched  one  body  of  Hessian  troops  to  march 
around  and  surprise  him  in  rear,  while  a  second  body 
of  British  and  Hessians  came  up  and  assailed  him  in 
front.  The  Americans,  after  a  vigorous  resistance, 
were  compelled  to  give  way,  but  they  kept  up  a 
spirited  and  galling  fire  from  behind  the  stone  walls 
as  they  retreated.  Putnam  was  ordered  to  reinforce 
McDougall,  and  hastened  to  do  so;  but  he  met  the 
latter  in  full  retreat,  and  it  was  not  judged  proper 
to  try  to  retake  the  height  from  which  his  men  had 
been  dislodged. 

Washington  expected  that  the  British  would  follow 
up  this  advantage  with  a  general  attack,  and  he 
labored  energetically  through  the  night  to  increase  the 
strength  of  his  present  defences.  Howe  concluded  to 
postpone  the  attack,  however,  till  another  occasion. 
In  the  meantime,  on  the  night  of  the  first  of  Novem- 
ber, which  was  dark  and  opportune  for  the  purpose, 
Washington  withdrew  his  whole  army  to  a  post  about 
five  miles  distant,  whither  he  had  already  managed 
to  send  his  baggage  and  provisions.  Howe  was  not 
inclined  to  offer  him  any  further  molestation  where 


RETREAT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ARMY.          201 

he  was,  but  turned  his  attention  to  Forts  Washing- 
ton and  Lee,  which  the  Americans  continued  to  hold, 
much  to  the  annoyance  of  the  British,  because  they 
were  still  in  their  rear.  First  he  made  a  demonstra- 
tion against  Fort  Independence,  at  Kingsbridge. 
The  Americans  deserted  that  fortification  as  soon  as 
they  saw  the  British  approaching,  and  retreated  to 
Fort  Washington.  A  detachment  of  British  pursued, 
and  took  up  a  position  between  Fort  Washington  and 
Fort  Lee;  while  the  rest  of  the  army,  with  General 
Howe  at  their  head,  returned  by  the  Hudson  to  New 
York. 

It  was  thus  apparent  to  Washington  that  Howe 
contemplated  an  invasion  of  New  Jersey.  To  pro- 
vide against  this,  he  ordered  General  Putnam  to  take 
command  of  all  the  troops  enlisted  from  the  west  of 
the  Hudson,  and  to  cross  the  river  at  once.  This  he 
did  on  the  8th  of  November,  and  posted  himself  at 
Hackensack.  Fort  Lee  was  placed  in  the  command  of 
General  Greene,  with  power  to  defend  Fort  Washing- 
ton, which  was  on  the  New  York  side  of  the  river. 
Greene  was  invested  with  discretionary  powers  in 
relation  to  the  defence  of  these  two  posts,  and  a  dif- 
ference of  opinion  arose  between  himself  and  Wash- 
ington as  to  the  policy  of  attempting  to  hold  them 
any  longer.  The  Commander-in-chief  believed  the 
effort  useless,  especially  as  the  enemy  were  concen- 


202          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

trating  their  forces  for  an  assault;  but  Greene 
thought  they  should  be  held  to  the  very  last,  and 
proceeded  to  strengthen  Fort  Washington  according- 
ly. He  placed  Colonel  McGaw  in  command  there, 
with  what  he  considered  an  adequate  force  to  defend 
the  place.  On  the  15th  of  Xovember,  McGaw  re- 
ceived a  summons  from  Gen.  Howe  to  surrender, 
threatening,  if  he  did  not,  that  the  garrison  should 
be  put  to  the  sword.  McGaw  refused,  and  sent  a 
despatch  across  the  river  to  Greene,  informing  him 
of  his  situation.  Greene  in  turn  forwarded  the  intel- 
ligence to  General  Washington,  who  was  at  Hacken- 
sack  with  Putnam.  Washington  hastened  to  Fort 
Lee,  and,  not  finding  Greene  there,  pushed  in  the 
night  across  the  river  to  the  other  fort.  He  met 
Greene  and  Putnam  in  the  river,  on  the  way  back, 
with  the  news  that  the  garrison  would  hold  out  with- 
out any  difficulty.  Accordingly  all  three  went  back  to 
Fort  Lee.  On  the  very  next  day,  however,  the  Brit- 
ish general  stormed  Fort  Washington  and  put  the  gar- 
rison to  the  sword,  as  he  had  threatened.  On  that 
single  day,  three  thousand  of  the  Americans  perished. 
It  was  worse  than  useless  now  to  attempt  to  hold 
Fort  Lee,  and  Washington  directed  the  immediate 
removal  of  the  ammunition  and  stores.  They  set 
to  work  to  accomplish  this  as  hastily  as  possible ;  but 
before  they  could  fairly  get  clear  of  danger, 


RETREAT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ARMY.         2Q3 

found  themselves  nearly  hemmed  in  by  a  British 
force  under  Lord  Cornwallis,  on  the  tract  between 
the  Hudson  and  Hackensack  rivers. 

They  managed  to  secure  their  escape  across  the 
Hackensack,  but  it  was  at  a  great  risk ;  and  even  then, 
they  left  their  cannon,  tents,  and  a  large  quantity 
of  stores  behind  them,  which  in  their  precipitate 
flight  they  were  compelled  to  relinquish.  And  now 
they  were  hardly  better  off  than  before ;  for  parallel 
with  the  Hackensack  runs  the  Passaic  for  a  long  dis- 
tance. The  British  could  again  hem  them  in,  if  they 
followed  up  the  pursuit;  and  to  avoid  the  same  dan- 
ger the  second  time,  they  effected  another  hasty  re- 
treat across  the  Passaic. 

Now  began  to  set  in  the  dark  days  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. The  militia  were  discouraged  with  nothing  but 
retreat  and  defeat,  and  left  the  army  in  large  numbers 
as  fast  as  their  terms  of  enlistment  expired.  The 
military  stores  amounted  to  scarcely  anything  worth 
'  mentioning.  It  was  late  in  November,  and  bleak 
winter  was  close  at  hand.  Not  more  than  three  thou- 
sand men  in  all  still  remained  under  the  standard  of 
Washington.  All  around  them  were  disaffected  per- 
sons and  open  loyalists;  and  the  army  had  thus  a 
double  foe  to  fight,  and  a  double  danger  to  overcome. 
One  by  one  the  cities  of  New  Jersey  fell  into  the 
enemy's  hands, — Newark,  New  Brunswick,  Prince- 


204         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

ton,  and  Trenton ;  they  took  possession  of  the  country 
as  fast  as  the  Americans  retreated.  And  when  that 
"  phantom  of  an  army  " — as  Hamilton  called  it, — 
that  still  clung  to  Washington,  crossed  the  Delaware 
on  the  eighth  day  of  December,  there  was  nothing  but 
that  single  river  between  the  over-running  enemy  and 
the  city  where  the  Continental  Congress  daily  met 
to  consult  for  the  future  of  the  nation  that  was  not 
yet  born.  The  brothers  Howe — the  General  and  the 
Admiral — seemed  to  have  everything  their  own  way. 
They  held  the  entire  country  from  Rhode  Island  to 
the  Delaware,  and  none  knew  how  long  before  they 
would  strike  the  blow,  so  much  dreaded,  against  Phil- 
adelphia itself.  They  also  scattered  proclamations  all 
over  the  land,  especially  among  those  who  had  not  yet 
fully  decided  to  embrace  the  cause  of  America  against 
England;  and  in  these  proclamations  they  freely 
offered  pardon  and  favor  to  all  who,  within  a  given 
time,  would  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  King. 
A  great  number  embraced  the  offer  thus  made,  and 
by  so  much  of  course  darkened  the  prospects  of  those 
who  were  still  hoping  and  toiling  for  the  ultimate  in- 
dependence of  their  country. 

General  Putnam  stood  by  his  great  Commander's 
side  through  the  whole  of  this  dark  disaster,  unshaken 
in  his  resolution  to  do  all  that  he  could  do  for  his 
native  land.  When  others  faltered,  he  never  hesi- 


RETREAT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ARMY.         205 

tated  or  swerved.  Upon  him  Washington  knew  that 
he  could  depend,  even  if  all  others  finally  failed  him. 
Congress  having  resolved  that  Philadelphia  should 
be  defended  to  the  last  extremity,  Putnam  was  di- 
rected to  enter  upon  the  work  of  erecting  the  proper 
fortifications.  "  Upon  the  salvation  of  Philadel- 
phia," wrote  Washington,  "  our  cause  almost  de- 
pends." His  selection  of  Putnam  to  take  supreme 
command  there,  sufficiently  attests  the  high  confi- 
dence he  reposed  in  his  ability  and  character.  He 
wrote  to  the  President  of  Congress,  on  the  9th  of 
December,  that  "  a  communication  of  lines  and  re- 
doubts from  the  Delaware  to  the  Schuylkill,  on  the 
north  entrance  of  the  city,  might  be  formed ;  "  that 
"  every  step  should  be  taken  to  collect  a  force,  not 
only  from  Pennsylvania,  but  from  the  neighboring 
states ;  "  and  that  the  communication  by  water  should 
be  kept  open  for  supplies.  Putnam  found  a  disaf- 
fected class  of  people, — and  people  of  wealth  and  in- 
fluence, too, — in  the  city,  against  whom  it  was  very 
trying  for  him  to  set  up  his  own  authority,  with 
any  hope  of  success ;  yet  he  did  succeed  in  bringing 
order  out  of  disorder,  and  by  his  sleepless  energy 
established  the  authority  of  the  American  arms.  He 
was  summoned  before  Congress  to  confer  with  that 
body  respecting  the  city's  safety,  and  in  obedience  to 
his  suggestions  they  resolved  to  adjourn,  and  did  ad- 


206          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

journ  on  the  12th  to  meet  again  on  the  20th  of  De- 
cemher,  in  Baltimore. 

He  at  once  placed  the  city  under  martial  law,  as 
he  had  previously  done  at  the  time  he  held  supreme 
command  in  New  York.  Yet  he  was  extremely  pru- 
dent about  making  any  display  of  his  authority,  too ; 
doing  nothing  that  would  cause  needless  irritation  on 
the  part  of  the  disaffected  inhabitants,  and  using 
every  proper  means  to  conciliate  their  confidence  and 
good  will.  He  labored  to  complete  the  defences,  with 
all  his  energy ;  so  arduous  were  his  exertions,  that  his 
health  for  a  time  gave  way  under  them.  He  had, 
in  fact,  a  double  duty  to  perform;  to  erect  defences 
against  the  enemy  without,  and  to  secure  himself 
from  an  enemy  equally  formidable  within  the  city. 
It  was  while  General  Putnam  was  thus  engaged,  that 
Washington  boldly  moved  forward  and  struck  two 
decisive  blows, — at  Trenton,  and  then  at  Princeton,* 

*  On  the  night  of  December  25,  1776,  Washington,  with 
2,400  men,  crossed  the  Delaware  river,  pushing  his  way 
through  the  formidable  ice  floes.  The  next  day  he  marched 
the  ten  miles  to  Trenton  in  the  face  of  a  severe  storm,  and 
attacked  and  defeated  a  force  of  1,500  Hessians  under  Rahl. 
About  one  thousand  Hessian  prisoners  were  captured. 

In  the  battle  of  Princeton,  which  was  fought  January 
3,  1777,  Washington  defeated  a  portion  of  the  army  of 
Cornwallis  and  captured  the  town. 

These  victories  were  timely,  and  they  did  great  service 
to  the  cause  by  reviving  the  drooping  spirits  of  the  pa- 
triots. There  is  no  medicine  for  a  discouraged  army  like 
the  news  of  a  rousing  victory. 


RETREAT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ARMY.         207 

— which  suddenly  electrified  and  energized  the  whole 
army  and  country.  It  was  a  part  of  the  plan  to  have 
Putnam  cooperate  in  these  brilliant  exploits  of  the 
Commander-in-chief,  both  with  a  portion  of  his  Phil- 
adelphia troops  and  a  body  of  Pennsylvania  militia ; 
but  the  fear  of  a  sudden  rising  among  the  loyalists 
of  the  city  made  such  a  design  impracticable.  Two 
letters  from  Washington  to  Putnam,  one  just  on  the 
eve  of  these  bold  enterprises,  indicate  very  plainly 
what  were  the  feelings  of  the  Commander-in-chief  at 
that  time.  In  the  first,  he  advises  General  Putnam 
to  remove  the  public  stores  to  a  place  of  greater 
safety,  as  the  enemy  had  said  they  would  enter  the 
town  within  twenty  days;  but  in  the  other,  written 
some  days  afterwards,  he  expresses  the  opinion  that 
the  British  are  seized  with  a  panic,  and  that  he  will 
yet  be  able  to  drive  them  out  of  the  Jerseys  altogether. 
Finding  that  affairs  were  thus  taking  a  favorable 
turn,  he  ordered  Putnam  into  the  field  again.  He 
was  directed,  on  the  5th  of  January,  1777,  to  march 
the  troops  under  his  command  to  Crosswick,  a  few 
miles  southeast  of  Trenton,  where  he  might  be  able 
both  to  keep  a  strict  watch  on  the  enemy  and  to 
obtain  any  advantage  that  offered.  Washington's 
plan  was  to  harass  the  British  army  by  every  method 
within  the  reach  of  his  ingenuity.  Putnam  was  or- 
dered to  keep  spies  out  continually,  so  that  he  might 


208          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

not  be  taken  by  surprise ;  and  also  to  make  it  appear 
to  the  enemy,  by  such  means  as  he  could,  that  his 
force  was  a  great  deal  stronger  than  it  really  was. 
Inasmuch  as  the  British  seemed  inclined  to  make  no 
demonstration  against  them,  but  rather  concentrated 
for  the  remainder  of  the  winter  in  New  Brunswick 
and  Amboy,  Putnam  was  soon  after  ordered  into  win- 
ter quarters  at  Princeton,  which  was  some  fifteen 
miles  distant.  He  had  but  a  handful  of  troops  with 
him  at  the  most;  and  had  he  been  attacked  in  his 
position  at  any  time,  would  have  been  forced  to  re- 
treat without  offering  battle. 

He  employed  every  device  to  conceal  from  the 
enemy  the  actual  paucity  of  his  numbers.  In  the 
battle  of  Princeton,  Capt.  McPherson,  a  Scotch  offi- 
cer, had  received  a  wound  which  it  was  thought 
was  about  to  terminate  fatally.  Until  Putnam  quar- 
tered in  the  town,  however,  he  had  not  even  had  medi- 
cal attendance,  it  being  considered  that,  as  he  was 
likely  to  die  any  day,  it  was  therefore  quite  useless ; 
but  Putnam  provided  him  with  a  careful  physician, 
as  soon  as  his  case  was  known,  who  did  all  that  he 
could  for  his  relief.  Being  in  his  presence  one  day, 
the  Scotchman  protested  his  gratitude,  and  asked  Put- 
nam to  what  country  he  belonged.  "  I  am  a  Yankee," 
said  the  general.  "  I  did  not  believe,"  answered 


RETREAT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ARMY.         209 

the  sufferer,  "  that  there  could  be  so  much  goodness 
in  an  American,  or  in  anybody  but  a  Scotchman." 
The  poor  fellow  thought  himself  about  to  die,  at 
length,  and  begged  that  a  British  officer,  a  friend  of 
his,  might  be  sent  for,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  to  come 
and  help  him  make  his  will.  Putnam  wished  to 
gratify  the  dying  man's  request,  but  it  would  not 
answer  to  let  a  British  officer  see  what  a  meagre  force 
he  had  around  him.  Indeed,  to  tell  the  truth,  he 
had  but  fifty  men  in  the  town  at  the  time,  all  the 
rest  of  his  men  having  been  sent  out  to  protect  the 
country  around.  Putnam's  mother  wit,  however,  was 
as  ready  as  ever  to  serve  him.  He  sent  out  a  flag 
of  truce  with  the  errand,  enjoining  upon  the  messen- 
ger not  to  return  with  the  British  officer  until  after 
dark.  The  moment  evening  came  on,  therefore,  Put- 
nam had  all  the  Avindows  in  the  college  buildings 
illuminated,  as  well  as  those  in  the  other  vacant 
houses  of  the  toAvn.  He  likeAvise  kept  his  little  squad 
of  fifty  men  marching  up  and  down  the  streets  con- 
tinually, and  making  as  much  of  a  martial  display 
as  possible.  Under  such  highly  imposing  circum- 
stances was  the  British  officer  conducted  to  the  quar- 
ters of  his  Scotch  friend,  and  finally  suffered  to  de- 
part. When  he  got  back  to  the  British  camp  again, 
he  reported  that  General  Putnam  could  not  have 


210         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

under  his  command  a  force  of  less  than  five  thousand 
men.* 

To  protect  the  friends  of  the  American  cause  from 
the  persecutions  of  loyalists,  was  a  duty  that  during 
this  time  engaged  much  of  the  lahor  of  Putnam, 
and  likewise  exercised  all  the  judgment,  delicacy, 
tact,  and  prudence,  of  which  he  was  the  possessor. 
The  rest  of  the  winter  was  occupied  chiefly  with 
skirmishes.  Col.  Xeilson  was  sent,  on  the  17th  of 
February,  with  a  hundred  and  fifty  men,  to  sur- 
prise a  party  of  loyalists  that  had  fortified  themselves 
at  Lawrence's  ^eck.  There  were  sixty  of  the  other 
party,  belonging  to  what  was  called  Cortlandt  Skin- 
ner's brigade.  They  were  all  taken  prisoners.  Major 
Stockton,  their  commander,  was  sent  to  Philadelphia 
by  General  Putnam,  in  irons.f 

*  In  this  Putnam  was  more  than  fulfilling  the  instruc- 
tions of  Washington,  who  wrote  from  Pluckamin,  Jan- 
uary 5,  1777.  "  You  will  give  out  your  strength  to  be  twice 
as  great  as  it  is."  He  led  the  enemy  to  believe  that  his 
strength  in  Princeton  was  nearly  one  hundred  times  as 
great  as  it  was. 

f  In  a  letter  describing  this  action,  Putnam  calls  the 
Tory  Major  Stockton  "  The  enemy's  renowned  land  Pilot." 
To  the  officers  appointed  to  conduct  the  prisoners  in  irons 
to  Philadelphia,  he  gave  orders  that  "  no  indulgences  should 
be  allowed  the  Villains  which  affords  them  a  possibil- 
ity of  escape."  Putnam  was  criticised  for  cruelty  in  this 
matter,  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  he  was  astonish- 
ingly magnanimous  to  a  fallen  foe.  He  doubtless  was  right 
in  feeling  that  the  efficiency  of  the  service  required  meas- 


RETREAT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ARMY.         21 1 

Not  long  after  this,  another  party  of  foragers  was 
reported  to  be  scouring  the  country,  and  Major  Smith 
was  sent  forward  to  hang  on  their  rear  until  Put- 
nam himself  should  come  up.  But  the  Major  was 
a  little  impatient,  or  ambitious  of  renown,  and  fell 
upon  the  party,  which  he  had  already  enticed  into  a 
snare,  putting  them  to  rout  and  carrying  off  several 
prisoners,  horses,  and  baggage-wagons. 

Thus  the  winter  of  1776-7  passed  away.  In  the 
time  he  had  been  in  New  Jersey,  General  Putnam 
had  taken  a  thousand  prisoners,  and  at  least  a  hun- 
dred and  twenty  baggage-wagons.  In  one  skirmish 
he  captured  ninety-six  wagons,  laden  with  provisions 
for  the  enemy.  He  likewise  by  his  prudence,  and  his 
firm  but  conciliatory  manner,  added  great  strength 
to  the  American  cause,  and  when  he  left  the  Jerseys 
<at  last,  which  he  did  in  May,  he  left  them  in  a  very 
different  condition  from  that  in  which  they  were 
when  he  first  set  foot  upon  their  soil.  Few  men,  in 
the  army  or  out,  could  have  performed  the  service 
for  which  the  Commander-in-chief  thought  him  in 
all  respects  so  admirably  qualified,  and  which  he 
accomplished  so  successfully. 

ures  of  severity  towards  the  Tories  who  were  giving  much 
aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy. 


CHAPTER  XL 

IN  THE  HIGHLANDS. 

THE  British  were  manoeuvring  just  at  this  time 
so  strangely,  that  Washington  was  hardly  able  to 
determine  what  object  they  really  had  in  view  next. 
They  had  a  force  in  Canada,  under  Burgoyne,  with 
which  it  was  thought  Howe  was  anxious  to  open  a 
communication  by  the  Hudson  River;  then  it  was 
suspected  that  the  Canada  troops  would  go  round  to 
$"ew  York  by  sea,  and  thus  effect  a  union  with  the 
troops  under  Howe  without  risking  an  attempt  by 
land;  and  then  again,  in  the  month  of  July,  it  was 
a  greater  mystery  still  in  which  direction  Howe  was 
going,  when  he  set  sail  with  his  army  from  the  port 
of  New  York.  All  these  contingencies  the  American 
commander  was  obliged  carefully  to  guard  against. 

To  this  end,  it  was  necessary,  first,  that  the  fort- 
ress of  Ticonderoga  should  be  strengthened,  and  pro- 
vided against  a  surprise;  second,  that  the  passes  in 
the  Highlands  should  be  so  guarded  as  to  prevent 
any  union  of  the  two  hostile  armies  by  way  of  the 
river;  and  third,  that  the  important  post  of  Phila- 

212 


IN  THE  HIGHLANDS.  213 

delpbia  should  be  defended  to  the  very  last  extremity. 
Enough,  one  would  think,  to  engage  all  the  energies 
of  any  commander. 

The  Highlands  were  to  be  defended  at  all  cost 
and  hazard.  An  ingenious  method  had  already  been 
devised  by  Generals  Greene  and  Knox  to  obstruct 
the  passage  of  the  enemy's  ships  up  the  river,  by 
means  of  a  heavy  chain,  supported  at  regular  inter- 
vals by  floating  logs  of  wood,  and  stretched  across 
from  one  shore  to  the  other.  A  couple  of  armed 
vessels  were  also  to  be  stationed  so  as  to  rake  the 
enemy's  ships,  whenever  they  might  approach. 
Arnold  had  been  previously  entrusted  with  the  com- 
mand of  the  river,  on  account  of  Washington's  sym- 
pathy for  the  treatment  with  which  Congress  had 
visited  him ;  but  as  his  own  private  affairs  compelled 
him  to  be  in  Philadelphia,  his  command  was  trans- 
ferred to  Gen.  Putnam,  and  the  latter  took  post  at 
the  head  of  the  army  of  the  Highlands,  in  the  month 
of  May,  1777. 

The  excessive  labor  and  exposure  which  was  re- 
quired of  Gen.  Putnam,  while  energetically  carrying 
out  the  plans  for  the  protection  of  the  river,  are 
thought  to  have  brought  on  the  sudden  assault  of 
disease  which,  not  much  more  than  two  years  later, 
compelled  his  countrymen  to  dispense  with  his  active 
services  altogether.  The  width  of  the  river  where 


214:          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

the  cable  was  to  be  thrown  across,  was  five  hundred 
and  forty  yards.  The  cable  was  not  to  be  stretched 
over  in  a  straight  line  from  shore  to  shore,  but  diag- 
onally, in  order  to  offer  a  more  effective  resistance 
to  the  current  of  the  river.  Working  early  and  late 
about  business  of  this  character,  being  out  in  all 
weathers,  and  often  standing  in  the  water  for  hours 
together,  was  quite  too  much  for  the  constitution  of 
a  man  who  did  not  stop  to  consider  that  he  was  grow- 
ing old,  and  finally  resulted  in  serious  and  irreparable 
mischief. 

Hardly  had  he  entered  upon  his  new  command, 
when  Washington  proposed  to  him  a  sudden  descent 
upon  the  enemy  who  were  fortified  at  Kingsbridge ; 
the  letter  written  by  the  latter  on  the  subject  is 
full  of  interest,  and  lets  the  reader  into  the  specu- 
lations of  the  great  man's  rnind  in  those  trying  times. 
But  the  contradictory  conduct  of  the  enemy  diverted 
his  attention  from  this  design,  and  drew  it  rather  to 
the  preservation  of  the  important  posts  he  still  held. 
As  soon,  then,  as  the  British  encampment  at  Bruns- 
wick was  broken  up,  Washington  made  ready  to  op- 
pose their  march  upon  Philadelphia,  which  he  had 
reason  to  think  was  the  direction  of  their  next  move- 
ment. In  order  to  do  this  the  more  effectually,  he 
sent  for  the  whole  of  Putnam's  force  except  a  thou- 
sand men.  These,  with  the  militia  of  the  region, 


IN  THE  HIGHLANDS.  215 

were  thought  to  be  sufficient  to  protect  his  position. 
Then  it  was  reported  to  Gen.  Putnam  that  Burgoyne 
was  marching  down  upon  him  from  the  direction 
of  Canada;  and  to  provide  against  this,  he  was 
obliged  to  hold  four  regiments  in  readiness  to  march 
at  a  moment's  warning.  The  great  danger  on  the 
Hudson  just  then  seemed  to  be,  that  Burgoyne  from 
above  and  Howe  from  below  would  succeed  in  unit- 
ing their  forces ;  and  that  was  the  plan  which  it  was 
very  evident  they  had  for  a  long  time  entertained. 
Washington  wrote  him  on  the  1st  of  July  thus :  "  Ko 
time  is  to  be  lost.  Much  may  be  at  stake,  and  I 
am  persuaded,  if  Gen.  Howe  is  going  up  the  river, 
he  will  make  a  rapid  and  vigorous  push  to  gain  the 
Highland  passes." 

For  a  long  time  matters  were  in  a  state  of  per- 
plexing uncertainty.  It  required  all  the  vigilance, 
and  all  the  energy  of  a  most  skilful  and  prudent 
general,  to  guard  properly  against  rashness  on  the 
one  hand  and  negligence  on  the  other.  The  season 
wore  on  in  this  way,  and  nothing  of  a  decided  char- 
acter was  undertakeri  during  the  summer.  Putnam 
celebrated  the  first  anniversary  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  in  the  Highlands,  in  a  rather  novel 
style.  A  public  feast  was'  made,  toasts  were  drunk, 

tf 

and  patriotic  feelings  were  appealed  to.  Guns  were 
also  fired  in  commemoration  of  so  great  an  event,  and 


216          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

just  at  sundown  a  huge  rock  was  thrown  over  a 
precipice  with  a  crashing  sound  like  that  of  thunder, 
into  the  wooded  valley  below.  The  rock  had  stood 
just  on  the  edge  of  the  precipice,  and  weighed  several 
hundred  tons. 

At  length  Ticonderoga  was  abandoned  *  to  the 
enemy;  and  then  commenced  in  good  earnest  the 
march  of  the  British  downward  upon  the  country 
around  the  Hudson.  Putnam  was  ordered,  on  the 
receipt  of  the  news,  to  forward  a  part  of  his  force 
northward  to  the  succor  of  Gen.  Schuyler;  and  he 
also  despatched  Major  Burr,  who  was  still  a  member 
of  his  military  staff,  into  Connecticut  to  collect  re- 
cruits and  send  them  on  with  all  possible  haste  to 
Albany.  Washington  had  by  this  time  moved  up 
nearer  to  the  Hudson,  on  the  Jersey  side.  Gen.  Sul- 
livan and  Lord  Stirling  were  sent  over  into  Putnam's 
camp,  to  be  ready  to  move  either  to  the  east  or  west, 
as  circumstances  should  render  it  necessary.  Howe 
had  just  then  set  sail  from  ^ew  York,  and  gone  to 
sea,  taking  with  him  a  large  part  of  the  force  from 
had  he  gone?  It  might  be  to  Philadelphia, — and 
it  might  be  to  Boston.  And  it  was  necessary  to  keep 
the  city.f  The  anxious  inquiry  therefore  was,  Where 

*  The  news  of  the  evacuation  of  Ticonderoga  reached 
Peekskill  July  9,  but  Putnam  refused  to  believe  it  until 
confirmations  compelled  him  to  do  so. 

t  This  force  included  18,000  men  and  more  than  two 
hundred  vessels. 


IN  THE  HIGHLANDS.  217 

the  troops  in  readiness  to  repel  his  attack  upon  either 
place.  Howe  had  sent  a  letter  to  Burgoyne  by  a 
young  American,  which  he  no  doubt  intended  should 
fall  into  the  hands  of  Gen.  Putnam.  The  letter 

spoke  of  the  fleet's  being  about  to  sail  for  "  B n," 

evidently  meaning  Boston.  Washington  got  the  let- 
ter from  Putnam,  and  felt  all  the  more  sure  that  the 
whole  was  only  meant  to  deceive  him ;  he  was  con- 
fident now,  that  the  enemy  had  sailed  from  ISTew  York 
for  the  purpose  of  taking  Philadelphia.  And  he 
made  ready  to  march  with  his  forces  at  once  in  that 
direction. 

The  fleet  made  its  appearance  off  the  Delaware 
cape,  sure  enough,  and  Washington  sent  orders  across 
the  Hudson  to  Gen.  Putnam  to  forward  even  more 
troops  than  was  before  arranged  for,  which  now  left 
his  post  in  a  very  precarious  condition.  But  on  the 
very  next  day  the  troops  were  sent  back  again,  the 
enemy  having  opened  a  new  game  by  which  to  deceive 
the  American  Commander,  and  keep  him  in  continual 
suspense.  And  in  this  way  the  sultry  season  was 
passed,  the  troops  marching  this  way  and  that  about 
the  country,  and  wearying  themselves  down  as  much 
with  the  fatigue  as  they  could  have  done  in  the  same 
time  with  active  and  constant  service. 

It  was  early  in  the  month  of  August  that  one 
Edmund  Palmer,  an  officer  in  a  company  of  Tories, 


218          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

was  caught  within  the  American  lines  as  a  spy,  and 
carried  before  Gen.  Putnam.  Sir  Henry  Clinton, 
who  commanded  at  New  York  city,  at  once  heard 
of  Palmer's  arrest,  and  sent  a  vessel  up  the  river  with 
the  flag  of  truce,  to  demand  his  person  as  an  officer 
in  the  English  service.  A  boat  landed  from  the  ves- 
sel, a  messenger  leaped  on  shore,  and  came  into  the 
camp  and  delivered  Clinton's  message.  Clinton 
threatened,  if  the  spy  was  not  given  up,  to  visit  the 
Americans  with  speedy  vengeance.  Putnam  did  not 
hesitate  a  moment,  but  sat  down  to  his  table,  and  in- 
stantly wrote  the  following  reply  to  Clinton's  haughty 
message : 

"HEAD-QUABTEES,  AUGUST  7,  1777. 
"  Edmund  Palmer,  an  officer  in  the  enemy's  ser- 
vice, was  taken  as  a  spy  lurking  within  our  lines; 
he  has  been  tried  as  a  spy,  condemned  as  a  spy,  and 
shall  be  executed  as  a  spy,  and  the  flag  is  ordered  to 
depart  immediately. 

"ISRAEL  PUTNAM." 

"  P.  S.  He  has  been  accordingly  executed." 

The  oak  tree  was  standing  not  many  years  ago,  at 
Peekskill,  from  one  of  the  branches  of  which  the  Tory 
spy  met  his  fate.* 

*  One  exasperating  result  of  the  trials  of  this  time  was 
that  the  soldiers  lost  heart  and  began  to  desert.  Putnam, 


IN  THE  HIGHLANDS.  219 

Undoubtedly  Clinton  had  sent  out  Palmer  to  ob- 
tain information  respecting  the  strength  of  Putnam's 
position.  This  more  than  ever  led  to  the  belief  that 
it  was  his  intention  to  cut  his  way  through  the  High- 
land passes,  and  join  his  forces  with  those  of  Bur- 
goyne.  General  Putnam's  camp  was,  as  already  men- 
tioned, in  the  village  of  Peekskill,  which  is  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Hudson.  On  the  western  side,  and 
a  few  miles  above,  were  Forts  Clinton  and  Mont- 
gomery, separated  by  a  narrow  stream,  but  forming 
substantially,  however,  a  single  fortification.  They 
were  planted  on  very  high  hills,  inaccessible  on  the 
river  side,  and  reported  by  those  who  selected  the 
position  to  be  almost  impossible  for  an  enemy  to  reach 
'in  their  rear.  General  George  Clinton,  who  was  at 
the  time  Governor  of  New  York,  commanded  them  in 
person,  having  about  six  hundred  of  the  militia  of 
the  State  under  him.  Fort  Independence  was  on  the 
eastern  side,  some  three  miles  below  these,  while 
Fort  Constitution  was  built  on  an  island  near  the 
same  shore  of  the  river,  and  about  nine  miles  above 

checked  this  movement  by  prompt  and  severe  punishment. 
One  deserter  was  hung  and  the  following  notice  of  warning 
was  displayed: 

"  I  wish  that  all  who  have  any  inclination  to  join  our 
enemies  from  motives  of  fear,  ambition,  or  avarice,  would 
take  warning  by  this  example  and  avoid  the  dreadful  calam- 
ities that  will  inevitably  follow  such  vile  and  treasonable 
practices."  "  ISBAEL  PUTNAM." 


220          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

Fort  Independence.  Putnam  had  command  of  the 
whole  of  this  region,  with  its  fortifications,  and  it 
was  his  single  task  to  see  that  the  British  from  be- 
low did  not  force  a  passage  through,  and  thus  unite 
with  the  army  of  Burgoyne  which  was  working  down 
from  above. 

At  this  time  the  General  formed  the  bold  design 
of  making  a  sudden  descent  upon  the  British  at 
Staten  Island,  Jersey  City,  York  Island  and  Long 
Island.  He  was  well  informed  of  the  enemy's 
strength  at  all  these  places,  and  felt  sure  of  striking 
them  a  staggering  blow.  This  design  was  to  be 
carried  out  in  the  month  of  September.  But  Wash- 
ington was  obliged  to  draw  away  so  large  a  part  of 
his  soldiery,*  that  for  the  present  Putnam  reluctant- 
ly gave  over  the  execution  of  his  plan. 

*  In  his  necessity,  Putnam  addressed  to  the  "  Colonels 
and  other  officers  of  the  Army  and  Militia  of  Connecticut," 
a  letter  which,  full  as  it  is  of  the  stirring  spirit  of  patriot- 
ism, reads  more  like  a  popular  speech  than  a  military  doc- 
ument. This  letter,  which  is  entirely  characteristic  of  the 
man  and  the  times,  sets  forth  the  depleted  condition  of 
his  command,  "  which  obliges  me,  for  the  common  safety, 
to  call  upon  all  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Continental 
troops  and  militia  in  the  State  of  Connecticut,  that  have 
not  special  license  to  be  absent,  immediately  to  repair  to 
this  post,  for  the  aid  and  defence  thereof,  and  to  defeat 
and  crush  our  cruel  and  perfidious  foes.  And  would  we, 
my  countrymen,  for  once  lay  aside  our  avarice,  oppres- 
sion, and  evil  works,  for  which  the  land  mourns,  and  the 
inhabitants  thereof  are  distressed  and  terrified,  and  united- 


IN  THE  HIGHLANDS.  221 

Sir  Henry  Clinton  then  took  advantage  of  the  exist- 
ing state  of  affairs  to  send  two  thousand  men,  in  four 
different  divisions,  into  ]STew  Jersey,  for  the  purpose 
of  committing  depredations.  Washington  was  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Philadelphia,  and  Putnam  had  not 
men  enough  to  offer  them  any  opposition;  and  thus 
the  country  lay  entirely  open  to  their  ravages.  The 
foraging  parties  succeeded  in  driving  off  large  num- 
bers of  cattle,  with  which  they  returned  in  safety 
to  ~New  York.  Putnam  did  send  Gen.  McDougall 
in  pursuit  of  them,  as  soon  as  he  heard  of  their  con- 
duct; but  he  reached  the  scene  of  the  troubles  too 
late  to  protect  any  part  of  the  country  from  the 
effects  of  their  thieving  incursion. 

On  the  23d  of  September,  Washington  made  a  still 
larger  draft  on  Putnam's  force,  which  now  reduced 
his  command  to  something  more  than  a  thousand  re- 
ly exert  ourselves  like  freemen,  resolved  on  freedom, 
through  the  smiles  of  Heaven  we  should  put  a  speedy  end 
to  those  unnatural  disturbers  of  our  peace,  and,  with  them, 
a  period  to  this  unhappy  and  bloody  war,  which  now  rav- 
ages and  desolates  our  country,  and  threatens  its  inhab- 
itants and  its  posterity  with  the  most  dismal  ruin  and 
abject  slavery.  Such  casualties  are  incident  to  human 
affairs,  the  natural  result  of  general  national  depravity; 
and  are  avoidable  only  by  reformation  and  amendment  in 
the  public  manners  of  a  people. 

"  Awake,  then,  to  virtue  and  to  great  military  exertion, 
and  we  shall  put  a  speedy  and  happy  issue  to  this  mighty 
contest."  "  ISRAEL  PUTNAM." 


222          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

liable  men.     With  these  alone  he  was  expected  to 

< 
hold  his  own  position  in  the  Highlands.     The  aid 

he  looked  for  from  the  militia  of  the  country  round 
about  amounted  to  hardly  more  than  nothing. 

Sir  Henry  Clinton  was  aware  how  greatly  this 
force  had  been  thus  reduced,  and  resolved  to  take 
advantage  of  it.  Accordingly  he  embarked  with 
nearly  four  thousand  troops  on  the  river,  and  reached 
Tarrytown  on  the  5th  of  October.  The  reader  will 
see  what  an  excessive  amount  of  exertion  Putnam 
was  now  obliged  to  put  forth,  in  order  to  hold  the 
enemy  in  check  and  prevent  the  contemplated  union 
of  the  army  below  with  the  army  above.  In  the 
first  place,  all  the  troops  he  had  would  not  number 
more  than  half  what  the  British  numbered ;  and  these 
were  divided  up  at  four  different  points, — the  two 
forts  on  the  western  bank  of  the  river,  and  the  two 
on  the  eastern.  Besides,  these,  he  must  also  keep  his 
position  at  Peekskill.  Clinton  landed  at  Tarrytown, 
and  marched  up  about  five  miles  into  the  country. 
Tarrytown  is  on  the  same  side  of  the  river  with 
Peekskill,  where  lay  his  camp. 

The  object  of  Clinton  was  merely  to  mislead  the 
American  general;  for  on  the  same  night  he  quietly 
marched  his  men  back  to  Tarrytown,  and  the  next 
morning  passed  up  the  river  again  and  landed  at 
.Verplanck's  Point,  which  is  onty  three  miles  below. 


IN  THE  HIGHLANDS.  223 

Peekskill.  Upon  seeing  their  approach,  Putnam  fell 
back  upon  the  heights  in  his  rear,  which  he  had  forti- 
fied against  such  an  emergency.  It  was  then  sup- 
posed, of  course,  that  the  British  commander  was 
directing  his  attack  against  Fort  Independence,  just 
above  Putnam's  camp;  on  the  contrary,  he  had  his 
eye  fixed  all  the  time  on  Forts  Clinton  and  Mont- 
gomery, some  six  miles  above  Fort  Independence,  on 
the  other  side.  On  that  same  evening,  therefore,  the 
British  fleet  moved  up  nearer  Peekskill ;  while  a  force 
of  two  thousand  men  dropped  down  the  river,  landed 
at  Stony  Point — which  is  over  against  Verplanck's 
Point, — and  struck  off  through  the  mountainous 
country  early  the  next  morning  to  gain  the  rear  of 
Forts  Clinton  and  Montgomery.  They  were  observed 
-  from  the  western  side  of  the  river,  but  a  dense  fog  and 
the  interposition  of  the  mountains  shut  them  out  from 
view  soon  after,  and  no  such  suspicion  existed  as  that 
they  had  a  thought  of  making  a  circuit  around  the 
difficult  hills  of  the  country.  Besides,  their  boats 
still  appeared  to  be  at  Verplanck's  Point,  and  their 
vessels  were  at  Peekskill  neck. 

While  this  detachment  of  the  enemy  were  thus 
pushing  on  to  the  rear  of  the  fortresses  in  question, 
Putnam  took  a  couple  of  general  officers  with  him, 
and  went  down  towards  the  river  to  reconnoitre. 
Those  who  had  seen  the  enemy  on  the  other  side 


224          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

at  an  early  hour  of  the  morning,  supposed  that  they 
must  have  returned  to  their  station  at  Verplanck's 
Point,  inasmuch  as  nothing  had  since  been  seen  of 
them.  But  by  this  time  they  were  well  on  their  way 
to  the  twin  forts  which  they  had  resolved  to  assail. 
They  were  formed  into  two  divisions;  one  advanced 
through  the  forests  and  ravines,  surmounting  the  in- 
numerable obstacles  that  lay  in  their  way,  intending 
to  fall  upon  Fort  Montgomery ;  the  other,  which  Clin- 
ton himself  conducted,  hurried  round  to  gain  the  rear 
of  Fort  Clinton.  The  plan  was,  to  commence  the 
assault  at  the  same  moment.  At  about  two  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  it  began.  This  was  on  Monday. 
Several  skirmishes  had  been  had  with  the  outposts  be- 
fore the  two  hostile  parties  reached  the  forts,  but  the 
Americans  were  driven  back  into  the  fortifications 
every  time.  For  three  hours  the  assault  was  kept 
up,  with  no  abatement  in  its  fury.  It  was  like  the 
dashing  of  a  sudden  and  powerful  storm.  The  Brit- 
ish commander  sent  a  flag,  demanding  a  surrender, 
after  the  fight  had  been  going  on  for  a  couple  of 
hours;  but  as  the  Americans  refused  to  yield,  the 
attack  was  renewed  with  increased  vigor.  A  mes- 
senger had  been  sent  to  Putnam's  camp,  in  the  mean- 
while, to  ask  for  assistance;  but  there  was  some 
treacherous  conduct  in  the  matter,  and  the  message 
never  was  delivered  at  head-quarters.  Putnam  knew 


IN  THE  HIGHLANDS.  225' 

nothing  of  what  was  going  on,  until  he  had  started 
on  his  return  from  reconnoitring  the  enemy  at  Ver- 
planck's  Point ;  the  firing  up  the  river  had  been 
heard  at  Peekskill,  and  word  was  brought  down  with 
all  possible  despatch.  He  hurried  back  to  camp  and 
sent  five  hundred  men  up  the  river  in  great  haste. 
They  had  five  miles  to  march  before  they  reached  the 
point  at  which  they  were  to  cross,  and  by  the  time 
they  came  to  that,  the  action  was  all  over.  The  news 
came  that  the  Americans  were  obliged  to  relinquish 
their  position,  and,  under  cover  of  dusk,  they  made 
good  their  retreat  from  the  forts.  The  contest  was 
most  severe  and  bloody,  more  than  one  third  of  the 
Americans  within  the  two  forts  having  fallen  victims. 
It  was  midnight  when  Governor  Clinton  reached 
Peekskill  in  his  retreat;  and  at  a  hasty  conference 
of  the  superior  officers,  it  was  thought  worse  than 
useless  to  try  to  hold  that  post  any  longer.  Putnam 
therefore  ordered  his  men  to  march  without  any 
delay;  and,  the  stores  having  been  first  withdrawn, 
they  set  out  for  Fishkill,  some  twelve  miles  distant 
by  the  road.*  The  two  vessels  were  burned  that  had 

*  In  addition  to  the  public  burdens  that  weighed  heavily 
on  Putnam,  private  and  domestic  ills  accumulated  at  this 
time.  His  wife  came  to  Peekskill  to  visit.  With  her  came 
her  son,  Septimus  Gardiner,  a  promising  lad  seventeen 
years  of  age,  who  was  expecting  to  replace  Aaron  Burr 
on  General  Putnam's  staff.  The  lad,  to  whom  the  general, 

15 


226          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

been  stationed  to  defend  the  cable  thrown  across  the 
river,  lest  they  should  fall  into  the  enemy's  hands. 
The  British  followed  up  their  advantages  without 
delay,  destroying  several  buildings  in  and  around 
Peekskill,  sailing  farther  up  the  river  and  commit- 
ting ravages  at  Esopus,  a  village  just  below  Kingston 
on  the  western  shore,  burning  stores,  mills,  and  dwell- 
ing houses  without  the  least  compunction,  and  exhibit- 
ing traits  of  barbaric  wantonness  that  would  ill  be- 
come outright  savages.  This  conduct  of  itself  aroused 
a  feeling  in  that  locality  against  the  British,  which 
tended  more  than  anything  to  place  still  farther  off 
their  prospects  of  final  success.  These  wanton  and 
ccuel  acts  were  quite  in  keeping  with  their  treatment 
of  the  wounded  and  dying  Americans  at  Fort  Mont- 
gomery. They  bestowed  upon  their  own  dead,  after 
the  battle  was  over,  a  decent  burial;  but  threw  the 
bodies  of  the  vanquished  in  piles  into  a  pool  not  far 
from  the  fort,  where  they  were  left  exposed  to  the 
elements.  Dr.  Dwight,  who  visited  the  place  about 
seven  months  afterwards,  in  the  month  of  May,  de- 

his  step-father,  was  deeply  attached,  soon  fell  sick  and 
died.  Mrs.  Putnam,  whose  health  was  not  robust,  was 
completely  prostrated  by  this  affliction.  When  the  general 
withdrew  from  Peekskill  the  movement  was  additionally 
painful  owing  to  the  fact  that  his  wife  was  unable  to  be 
moved.  On  the  14th  day  of  October,  she  died.  This  ac- 
cumulation of  burden,  disappointment,  and  sorrow,  made 
the  year  one  of  sore  trial  to  the  brave  old  general. 


IN  THE  HIGHLANDS.  227 

scribes  the  scene  that  presented  itself,  in  the  following 
style : — 

"  The  first  object  which  met  our  eyes,  after  we 
had  left  our  barge  and  ascended  the  bank,  was  the 
remains  of  a  fire,  kindled  by  the  cottagers  of  this 
solitude,  for  the  purpose  of  consuming  the  bones  of 
some  of  the  Americans  who  had  fallen  at  this  place, 
and  had  been  left  unburied.  Some  of  these  bones 
were  lying,  partially  consumed,  round  the  spot  where 
the  fire  had  been  kindled;  and  some  had  evidently 
been  converted  to  ashes.  As  we  went  onward,  we 
were  distressed  by  the  fcetor  of  decayed  human  bod- 
ies. As  we  were  attempting  to  discover  the  source 
from  which  it  proceeded,  we  found,  at  a  small  dis- 
tance from  Fort  Montgomery,  a  pond  of  a  moderate 
size,  in  which  we  saw  bodies  of  several  men,  who  had 
been  killed  in  the  assault  upon  the  fort.  They  were 
thrown  into  this  pond,  the  preceding  autumn,  by  the 
British,  when,  probably,  the  water  was  sufficiently 
deep  to  cover  them.  Some  of  them  were  covered  at 
this  time;  but  at  a  depth  so  small,  as  to  leave  them 
distinctly  visible.  Others  had  an  arm,  a  leg,  or  a 
part  of  the  body,  above  the  surface.  The  clothes 
which  they  wore  when  they  were  killed,  were  still 
on  them,  and  proved  that  they  were  militia,  being 
the  ordinary  dress  of  farmers." 

The  British  were  on  their  way  up  to  meet  Bur- 


228          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

goyne,  inflated  with  high  hopes,  and  drunk  with  their 
grand  expectations;  but  suddenly  there  fell  a  blow 
upon  those  hopes,  which  destroyed  them  every  one. 
The  news  met  them  that  Burgoyne  had  surrendered 
to  General  Gates!  It  was  useless  to  go  farther. 
They  turned  their  faces  about  without  hesitation, 
and,  taking  to  their  vessels  in  the  river, — after  hav- 
ing first  been  at  the  pains  to  demolish  two  of  the 
deserted  American  forts, — sailed  down  to  ]^ew  York. 
Putnam  left  Fishkill  upon  this,  and  took  up  his 
former  station  at  Peekskill.  He  had  the  great  mis- 
fortune to  lose  his  wife  while  at  the  former  place, 
in  reference  to  which  General  Washington  soon  after- 
wards wrote  him, — "  I  am  extremely  sorry  for  the 
death  of  Mrs.  Putnam,  and  sympathize  with  you 
upon  the  occasion.  Remembering  that  all  must  die, 
and  that  she  had  lived  to  an  honorable  age,  I  hope  you 
will  bear  the  misfortune  with  that  fortitude  and  com- 
placency of  mind  that  become  a  man  and  a  Chris- 
tian." 

It  is  said  that  Dr.  Dwight  then  an  army  chap- 
lain, and  afterwards  President  of  Yale  College, — 
preached  a  sermon  to  the  army  on  the  Sunday  fol- 
lowing the  surrender  of  Burgoyne,  taking  his  text 
from  Joel,  2 :  20,  as  follows : — "  I  will  remove  far  off 
from  you  the  northern  army."  All  the  officers  were 
delighted  with  it,  and  General  Putnam  as  a  matter. 


IN  THE  HIGHLANDS.  229 

of  course.  The  General  walked  along  with  the  young 
chaplain,  after  service  was  over,  and  desired  to  know 
where  he  got  his  text ;  "  for,"  said  he,  "  I  don't  be- 
lieve there  is  any  such  text  in  the  Bible."  Dwight 
only  satisfied  him  that  there  was  such  a  text  there, 
by  producing  the  book  and  pointing  it  out  to  him. 
Putnam  declared  that  there  was  everything  in  that 
book,  and  Dwight  knew  just  where  to  put  his  finger 
upon  it ! 

After  Burgoyne's  defeat,  drafts  were  made  upon 
the  northern  army  to  increase  the  force  of  General 
Putnam,  until  in  a  short  time  he  had  nine  thousand 
men  under  his  command.  With  this  large  body  at 
his  disposal,  he  had  planned  an  enterprise  against  the 
enemy  below  at  several  points,  of  whose  success  he  was 
very  sanguine.  But  the  British  under  General  Howe 
were  already  in  possession  of  Philadelphia,  and  their 
fleet  was  seeking  a  communication  with  that  city  to 
carry  them  supplies.  To  this  plan  Washington 
wished  to  put  a  stop.  For  this  purpose  he  sent  Col. 
Alexander  Hamilton  to  Putnam's  camp,  with  orders 
to  forward  him  without  delay,  three  brigades.  Ham- 
ilton then  hurried  on  to  Albany  to  confer  with  Gen- 
eral Gates.  In  a  week  he  returned ;  and  finding  that 
Putnam  had  not  forwarded  the  troops  as  directed, 
sent  an  order  couched  in  terms  of  the  most  severe 


230          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

reprimand.*  He  also  wrote  a  despatch  to  Washing- 
ton in  relation  to  Putnam's  neglect  of  his  orders, 
in  which  he  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  old  Gen- 
eral ought  to  be  displaced.  His  language,  in  the  let- 
ter he  addressed  to  General  Putnam,  was  harsh  in  the 

*  It  is  impossible  to  apologize  for  General  Putnam  who 
here  disobeyed  the  orders  of  his  chief.  Had  the  army  been 
more  perfectly  trained,  such  a  thing  could  not  have  oc- 
curred. One  of  the  greatest  difficulties  that  met  Washing- 
ton— and  all  the  generals  of  that  war,  including  Putnam — 
was  that  of  commanding  an  army  of  men  who  were  trained 
to  individual  independence,  and  not  to  military  obedience. 
These  men,  in  large  measure,  served  when  they  chose,  and 
quit  the  service  when  they  chose.  The  generals  themselves 
were  not  free  from  such  individualistic  ideas  of  duty  and 
privileges,  and  it  required  much  diplomacy  to  hold  the 
army  together  at  all.  Surely  never  was  an  army  further 
from  the  condition  of  mechanical  precision,  which  is  the 
ideal  of  military  perfection. 

If  one  desires  to  palliate  Putnam's  offence,  these  two 
facts  may  be  considered:  (1)  Putnam,  who  was  nothing  if 
not  a  fighter,  now,  for  the  first  time  in  many  months,  had 
the  means  of  offensive  operation.  He  had  fully  planned 
attacks  on  New  York  and  vicinity.  After  his  long  exper- 
ience of  being  monotonously  on  the  defensive,  this  change 
of  conditions  was  like  putting  new  life  into  his  veins.  The 
sudden  order  withdrawing  his  reinforcements,  and  dashing 
his  expectation  of  brilliant  exploits,  was  like  the  relapse 
of  a  patient  recovering  from  a  fever.  He  failed  to  bear 
the  strain  with  military  submissiveness.  (2)  It  must  also 
be  remembered  that  Hamilton,  brilliant  as  he  was,  was  very 
young  and  unbearably  imperious.  He  was  just  the  person 
to  make  a  disagreeable  order  many  times  more  disagreeable 
than  waj  necessary;  and  the  haughty  manner  of  the  strip- 
ling in  communicating  this  order,  was  nicely  calculated 
to  rouse  all  the  antagonism  of  Putnam's  rugged  nature. 


IN  THE  HIGHLANDS.  231 

extreme.  Yet  he  excuses  it  on  account  of  the  depth 
of  his  feelings.  He  said  that  he  trembled  lest  Sir 
Henry  Clinton  with  his  fleet  had  already  reached 
Howe  at  Philadelphia,  and  that  all  was  lost. 

Putnam  at  once  sent  Hamilton's  letter  on  to  the 
Commander-in-chief,  and  complained  of  its  temper 
and  imputations  upon  him ;  he  said  that  without  the 
most  direct  and  positive  orders  from  his  commander, 
he  could  not  think  of  such  a  thing  as  sending  away 
the  body  of  the  force  which  was  all  he  had  to  rely 
upon.  But  Washington  approved  the  order  which 
had  been  issued  to  the  General  and  expressed  himself 
dissatisfied  with  his  neglect  to  obey  the  same.  For 
the  first  time  since  he  had  entered  upon  the  duties 
of  a  soldier,  had  he  thus  received  the  censure,  whether 
deserved  or  not,  of  his  superior  officer.  There  is 
much  to  be  said  in  explanation  of  his  conduct,  and  to 
say  that  does  but  divide  the  responsibility  among 
those  on  whom  it  should  properly  rest.  Washington 
was  unacquainted  with  the  exact  state  of  matters  in 
the  highlands,  just  at  that  time ;  there  was  a  mutinous 
spirit  among  a  large  portion  of  the  troops,  who 
threatened  to  desert  altogether  unless  they  could  be 
paid ;  and  this  Hamilton  himself  knew ;  and  Hamil- 
ton was  evidently  hasty,  if  not  impetuous,  and  used 
language,  for  a  young  man  of  twenty,  in  his  letter, 


232          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

such  as  no  man  of  his  years  should  employ  towards  a 
scarred  veteran  of  sixty. 

The  order  of  Washington  having  finally  been  com- 
plied with,  General  Putnam  took  a  part  of  his  re- 
maining force  and  moved  down  the  river.  General 
Dickinson  made  a  sudden  descent  on  Staten  Island, 
on  the  27th  of  November,  with  fourteen  hundred 
men;  and  simultaneously  with  this  movement  Gen- 
eral Putnam  ordered  a  diversion  upon  Kingsbridge, 
that  the  enemy  might  not  suspect  his  stratagem ;  but 
by  some  means  they  received  intelligence  of  his  de- 
sign, and  were  enabled  to  make  good  their  escape. 

Next  he  proceeded  to  New  Rochelle,  and  at  this 
point  got  things  in  readiness  to  cross  the  Sound  in 
open  boats  and  surprise  the  enemy  at  Huntington 
and  Satauket ;  but  this  design  was  penetrated  by  the 
British  in  time  to  permit  them  to  vacate  the  forts 
and  betake  themselves  to  a  place  of  safety.  Then  he 
projected  an  enterprise  against  Long  Island  to  destroy 
large  quantities  of  lumber  that  had  been  collected 
at  several  points  by  the  British,  for  constructing  bar- 
racks in  New  York, — to  fire  several  coasting  vessels 
that  were  loaded  with  wood  for  the  British  army  then 
in  possession  of  Newport,  in  Rhode  Island, — to  cap- 
ture what  public  stores  they  could  lay  their  hands 
on,  and  to  attack  a  regiment  stationed  near  Jamaica. 
The  whole  expedition  was  divided  into  three  parts, 


IN  THE  HIGHLANDS.  233 

and  placed  under  the  direction  of  as  many  comman- 
ders. This  expedition  also  turned  out  unfortunately, 
only  one  sloop  having  been  destroyed,  together  with 
a  quantity  of  timber.  One  of  the  commanders  was 
taken  a  prisoner,  together  with  the  whole  of  his  party, 
amounting  to  sixty-five  men. 

Governor  Tryon,  whose  talent  seemed  to  consist 
in  destroying,  and  whose  name  will  forever  be  asso- 
ciated in  the  mind  of  the  people  of  western  Connecti- 
cut with  acts  of  incendiarism  and  wantonness,  had 
been  sending  out  parties  quite  freely  to  commit  such 
depredations  as  they  had  an  inclination  to.  Putnam 
found  that  the  only  way  to  put  a  stop  to  this  conduct, 
was  by  acts  of  retaliation.  Accordingly  he  despatched 
bodies  of  men  in  this  direction  and  that,  wherever  it 
was  possible  to  surprise  the  enemy's  officers  in  their 
position.  On  one  of  these  marauding  excursions  the 
Americans  having  learned  that  a  noted  Tory  named 
Colonel  James  Delancy  was  at  the  village  of  West 
Farms,  a  little  below  Westchester,  they  stealthily 
approached  and  surrounded  the  house  in  the  night, 
and  then  hurried  in  to  ransack  it  for  their  prisoner. 
Delancy  was  in  bed,  and  heard  them  coming.  Not 
knowing  what  else  to  do,  he  bounded  out  and  crept  un- 
derneath with  all  possible  agility.  But  the  warm  bed 
he  had  just  left  testified  to  his  presence;  and  after 
searching  carefully  all  about  the  room,  they  at  last 


234          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

discovered  him  in  his  novel  hiding  place,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  draw  him  forth  in  triumph  to  public  view. 
It  was  not  a  very  dignified  or  brave  position  for  a 
Colonel  to  be  found  in,  but  there  he  was.  They  bore 
him  away  to  head-quarters  a  prisoner.  Clinton  found 
the  means  to  procure  his  release  before  long,  by  pro- 
posing an  exchange  of  prisoners.  He  afterwards 
earned  a  name  of  perpetual  infamy,  by  placing  him- 
self at  the  head  of  those  thieving  and  lawless  barbar- 
ians known  by  the  name  of  Cow  Boys,  that  infested 
the  neutral  district  between  the  lines  of  the  two 
armies.  The  novelist  Cooper  has  done  full  justice  to 
the  vile  character  of  those  uncivilized  creatures,  who 
lived  by  preying  even  on  their  own  friends  and  rela- 
tives, in  his  novel  entitled  "  The  Spy."  They  formed 
a  class  of  men,  the  like  of  whom  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  find  anywhere  else  in  all  our  history  as  a 
country.* 

*  In  some  cases  Putnam  summarily  checked  these  depre- 
dations by  retaliation  in  kind.  His  scouts  burned  resi- 
dences of  Tories,  some  of  these  being  valuable  mansions. 
Thus  applying  to  the  practice  of  incendiarism  the  rule  that 
worked  both  ways,  he  succeeded  in  bringing  such  ruffian 
methods  into  disrepute. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

PUTNAM   AT   WEST    POINT    AND   DANBURY. 

IN  the  middle  of  December,  Gen.  Putnam  went 
into  winter  quarters  in  the  Highlands.  The  work  to 
which  he  was  now  to  give  his  attention,  was  the 
perfection  of  the  defences  of  the  river.  It  was  early 
in  the  month  of  January,  17T8,  when  a  party,  among 
whom  were  Governor  George  Clinton  and  Colonel 
Radiere,  a  French  engineer,  made  an  actual  survey 
of  the  region^  for  the  purpose  of  deciding  the  best 
point  at  which  a  strong  fortification  should  be  erected. 
West  Point  was  finally  decided  on,  though  not  with- 
out the  opposition  of  Radiere,  and  after  an  examina- 
tion of  the  place  by  a  committee  of  the  New  York 
Legislature.  The  French  engineer  displayed  consid- 
erable petulance  at  the  final  decision,  and  it  was  not 
long  before  he  gave  place  to  the  celebrated  Polish 
exile  Kosciusko ;  when  the  plans  were  carried  forward 
with  energy  and  rapidity.  To  Gen.  Putnam  alone 
his  early  friend  and  biographer,  Col.  Humphreys, 
awards  the  credit  of  this  most  sagacious  selection. 
General  Parsons  was  sent  across  the  river  to  break 

235 


236          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

ground  when  the  snow  lay  two  feet  deep.  Consider- 
ing how  poorly  fed  and  clad  the  soldiers  were  at  this 
time,  how  pinching  was  the  cold,  and  what  a  miser- 
able pittance  was  doled  out  to  them  from  time  to 
time  for  their  services,  it  seems  truly  wonderful  what 
kept  them  together  at  all,  much  more,  what  motive 
could  be  strong  enough  to  excite  their  energies  in 
such  an  undertaking  at  such  an  inclement  season. 
Putnam's  own  description  of  the  condition  of  his 
men,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Washington,  is  well  worth 
quoting  from :  "  Dublois'  regiment  is  unfit  to  be  or- 
dered on  duty,  there  being  not  one  blanket  in  the 
regiment.  Very  few  have  either  a  shoe  or  a  shirt, 
and  most  of  them  have  neither  stockings,  breeches, 
nor  overalls.  Several  companies  of  enlisted  artificers 
are  in  the  same  situation,  and  unable  to  work  in  the 
field."  This  was  the  same  long  and  dreary  winter 
which  Washington  passed  with  his  shoeless  and  al- 
most starving  army  at  Valley  Forge.  It  was,  in 
truth,  the  darkest  period  in  our  Revolutionary  his- 
tory. Washington  wrote  to  Congress  that  he  had 
with  him  at  Valley  Forge  "  no  less  than  two  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  ninety-eight  men  in  camp  unfit 
for  duty,  because  they  were  barefoot  and  otherwise 
naked." 

In  the  month  of  November  previous,  Congress  had 
directed  that  the  loss  of  the  Forts  Clinton  and  Mont- 


PUTNAM  AT  WEST  POINT  AND  DANBUEY.    237 

gomery  should  be  duly  investigated  by  a  court  of 
inquiry,  which  was  composed  of  three  of  the  leading 
officers  of  the  army.*  Putnam  had  gone  home  to 
Connecticut,  about  the  middle  of  February,  to  take 
care  of  his  private  affairs,  which  sadly  needed  his 
personal  attention;  but  as  soon  as  he  returned  the 
investigation  took  place.  It  is  a  very  common 
method,  according  to  strict  military  discipline,  of 
getting  at  the  real  facts  of  a  great  mistake  or  mis- 
fortune, or  of  a  piece  of  misconduct  on  the  part  of  a 
general  officer;  but  nothing  in  the  present  case  was 
charged  against  Gen.  Putnam  by  the  court,  nor 
against  any  one  else  concerned.  Of  course,  while  the 
investigation  was  going  on,  Gen.  Putnam  was  deposed 
from  his  command,  as  was  customary  and  proper; 
and  that  command  he  was  not  permitted  again  to 
resume.  The  court  found  that  the  two  forts  were 
lost  on  account  of  a  lack  of  men,  and  not  from  any 
fault  of  the  commanders.  Washington  sent  to  Put- 
nam, upon  this,  directions  to  return  once  more  to  Con- 
necticut, and  hurry  forward  the  fresh  troops  which 
that  State  proposed  to  raise  for  the  coming  campaign, 
— that  of  the  year  1778. 

The  news  came  about  the  first  of  May,  that  France 
had  formed  an  alliance  with  the  United  States,  and 
Washington  and  all  the  rest  began  to  feel  greatly 

*  These  were  McDougall,  Huntington,  and  Wigglesworth, 


238          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

encouraged.  He  even  thought  that  the  campaign  of 
that  year  would  terminate  the  struggle  altogether. 
He  wrote  on  to  Putnam,  "  I  hope  that  the  fair,  and,  I 
may  say,  certain,  prospect  of  success  will  not  induce 
us  to  relax." 

Directly  after  the  battle  of  Monmouth,  Gen.  Put- 
nam left  Connecticut  to  take  command  of  the  right 
wing  of  the  army.*  Nothing  had  yet  been  accom- 
plished, with  the  exception  of  this  single  brilliant 

*  Among  the  people  of  New  York  there  had  been  for 
some  time  a  growing  dissatisfaction  with  Putnam,  and 
this  was  not  removed  by  the  favorable  verdict  of  the 
court-martial.  Nor  did  Washington  recover  entire  confi- 
dence in  him  after  the  disobedience  of  the  orders  given 
through  Hamilton,  as  narrated  above.  Putnam,  after  the 
death  of  his  wife,  asked  for  permission  to  return  to  his 
home  in  order  to  settle  up  some  matters,  and  Washington 
consented,  regarding  this  as  a  convenient  method  of  solv- 
ing an  embarrassing  situation.  Putnam  was  ordered  to 
raise  recruits  for  the  army  in  Connecticut.  When  this 
work  was  finished,  he  was  impatient  to  be  assigned  to 
active  duty.  He  wrote  in  a  complaining  tone  to  Congress, 
that  "  to  be  posted  here  as  a  public  spectator  for  every  ill- 
minded  person  to  make  their  remarks  upon,  I  think  is 
very  poor  encouragement  for  any  person  to  venture  their 
lives  and  fortunes  in  the  service." 

The  battle  of  Monmouth  was  fought  June  18,  1778.  This 
resulted  in  a  brilliant  victory,  the  fruits  of  which  were 
lost  by  the  disobedience  of  General  Lee,  who  ranked  next 
to  Washington.  Lee  was  court-martialed  and  dismissed 
from  the  service.  Thus  a  suitable  opening  was  found  for 
Putnam,  and  thus  it  came  that  he  was  appointed  to  suc- 
ceed Lee.  He  probably  never  knew  to  what  extent  he  was, 
for  the  time,  a  white  elephant  on  Washington's  hands. 


PUTNAM  AT  WEST  POINT  AND  DANBURY.    239 

action,  and  the  summer  wore  away  with  a  series  of 
aimless  marches  this  way  and  that,  which  almost  wore 
out  what  patience  remained  to  the  army.  The  Brit- 
ish at  length — in  September — gave  the  American 
Commander  the  idea  that  they  were  about  to  em- 
bark from  New  York  on  an  expedition  to  Boston. 
As  France  had  by  that  time  openly  taken  sides  with 
us,  a  large  French  fleet  lay  near  Boston  and  along 
the  coast,  which  it  was  thought  Sir  Henry  Clinton  was 
eager  to  attack.  The  entire  eastern  army  was  there- 
fore so  disposed  as  to  be  ready  to  go  to  the  immediate 
aid  of  the  East,  in  case  of  an  invasion,  and  also  to 
hold  and  defend  the  important  posts  already  in  their 
hands,  in  and  around  the  Highlands.  Putnam  was 
put  in  command  of  two  brigades  not  far  from  West 
Point,  while  Generals  McDougall  and  Gates  were  sta- 
tioned at  Danbury,  to  protect  the  line  of  country 
bordering  on  Long  Island  Sound.  Two  months 
passed  by,  and  still  nothing  was  done.  The  army  was 
therefore  ordered  into  winter  quarters  early  in  the 
month  of  November. 

General  Putnam  was  ordered,  this  winter,  to  quar- 
ter with  his  command  near  Danbury.  He  had  three 
brigades  under  him,  made  up  of  troops  from  Connec- 
ticut and  New  Hampshire,  Hazen's  corps  of  infantry, 
and  Sheldon's  corps  of  cavalry.  In  this  position  he 
was  ready  at  hand  to  assist  either  in  the  defences  of 


240          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

the  Highlands,  or  to  repel  any  assaults  that  might 
be  offered  by  parties  of  the  enemy  upon  the  magazines 
along  the  Connecticut  river,  or  the  dwellings  and 
stores  on  the  line  of  the  Sound  shore. 

The  troops  were  but  poorly  paid  at  this  time,  and 
there  was  a  great  deal  of  complaint  amongst  them. 
!N\)r  was  it  without  reason.  They  saw  the  day  of 
payment  no  nearer  at  hand  than  it  had  ever  been. 
They  were  put  off,  and  put  off,  with  promises  contin- 
ually. It  was  cold  weather,  pinching  and  bitter ;  and 
poorly  clad  and  ill  fed  as  they  were,  their  prospects 
brightening  at  no  turn,  it  is  nothing  to  wonder  at  that 
they  should  begin  to  feel  discouraged.  The  first  evi- 
dence which  Gen.  Putnam  had  of  the  existence  of  such 
a  feeling,  was  on  finding  that  insubordination  was  act- 
ually beginning  to  manifest  itself.  The  old  General 
himself  quartered  at  a  farm  house  in  Heading,  but 
a  short  distance  from  Danbury,  and  he  was  there 
when  the  news  of  the  outbreak  first  reached  him. 

The  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut  was  in  ses- 
sion at  the  time,  in  Hartford;  and  the  troops  had, 
two  brigades  of  them,  resolved  to  form  in  military 
line  and  march  to  Hartford  to  demand  the  money 
which  they  began  to  think  was  wrongfully  kept  back 
from  them.  These  two  brigades  were  Connecticut 
troops,  and  had  a  perfect  right  to  demand  their  pay 
from  the  legislature  of  that  State.  The  other  troops 


PUTNAM  AT  WEST  POINT  AND  DANBURY.    241 

did  not  stand  in  the  same  relation  to  the  legisla- 
ture. When  word  was  brought  to  Gen.  Putnam  of 
the  breaking  out  of  the  trouble,  one  brigade  Avas  then 
under  arms  and  all  ready  to  proceed  to  Hartford. 
He  lost  no  time  in  making  up  his  mind  what  to  do, 
as  he  never  did;  but  instantly  springing  upon  his 
horse,  he  galloped  away  to  the  scene  of  the  diffi- 
culties. Riding  up  to  the  head  of  the  column, 
he  at  once  appealed  to  their  respect  and  affection  for 
their  veteran  commander,  and  harangued  them  in  a 
loud  voice  and  with  a  great  deal  of  feeling.  Said 
he  to  them,  while  he  still  sat  on  his  horse, — "  My 
brave  lads,  whither  are  you  going?  Do  you  intend 
to  desert  your  officers,  and  to  invite  the  enemy  to 
follow  you  into  the  country?  In  whose  cause  have 
you  been  fighting  and  suffering  so  long?  Is  it  not 
your  own?  Have  you  no  property?  no  parents?  no 
wives  ?  no  children  ?  You  have  thus  far  behaved  like 
men ;  the  world  is  full  of  your  praises ;  and  posterity 
will  stand  astonished  at  your  deeds :— but  not  if  you 
spoil  it  all  at  last.  Don't  you  consider  how  much 
the  country  is  distressed  by  the  war,  and  that  your 
officers  have  not  been  any  better  paid  than  yourselves  ? 
But  we  all  expect  better  times,  and  then  the  country 
will  do  us  ample  justice.  Let  us  all  stand  by  one 
another,  then,  and  fight  it  out  like  brave  soldiers! 


16 


242          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

Think  what  a  shame  it  would  be  for  Connecticut  men 
to  run  away  from  their  officers !  " 

An  appeal  like  this,  coming  from  the  man  they 
all  loved  and  respected  so  much,  could  not  go  without 
its  effect.  The  dissatisfied  troops  softened  in  a  mo- 
ment, and  testified  to  their  suddenly  changed  feel- 
ings by  offering  the  customary  military  salute  as  their 
General  rode  slowly  down  the  line;  they  presented 
arms,  and  the  drum  began  again  to  beat.  The  Brig- 
ade Major  then  gave  the  order  to  shoulder  arms, 
which  they  promptly  obeyed ;  and  then  marched  away 
to  their  parade  ground  and  stacked  their  arms  with- 
out the  least  show  of  further  dissatisfaction.  The 
rough  but  honest  old  soldier  who  was  at  their  head, 
exerted  such  a  strong  and  immediate  influence  over 
them,  that  they  were  convinced  that  he  was  in  the 
right,  and  they  were  altogether  in  the  wrong. 

One  soldier  only,  who  was  engaged  in  the  mutiny, 
persisted  in  his  insubordination,  and  it  was  found 
necessary  to  confine  him  in  the  guard-house.  During 
the  night  he  attempted  to  make  his  escape,  but  he 
was  shot  dead  by  the  sentinel,  who  had  himself  been 
concerned  in  the  mutiny  of  the  day  before.  A  couple 
of  soldiers  were  also  executed  on  Gallows  Hill,  about 
a  mile  from  the  head-quarters  of  Putnam;  one  was 
shot  for  desertion,  and  one  was  hung  for  being  taken 
as  a  spy.  The  latter  was  a  Tory.  He  was  compelled 


PUTNAM  AT  WEST  POINT  AND  DANBUEY.    243 

to  ascend  a  ladder  to  a  height  of  some  twenty  feet, 
with  the  rope  around  his  neck,  and  then  told  to  jump 
off.  This  he  refused  to  do.  The  ladder  had  to  be 
turned  over  by  those  below,  so  as  to  throw  him  off 
and  leave  him  swinging  in  the  air.  The  other — the 
deserter — was  a  mere  youth,  not  more  than  seventeen 
years  old;  and  it  is  related  that  terrible  work  was 
made  at  his  execution. 

The  enemy,  this  winter,  under  the  well  known  Gov- 
ernor Tryon,  made  a  descent  upon  the  towns  and 
villages  along  the  Sound,  carrying  their  incursions 
also  as  far  into  the  interior  as  they  judged  it  prudent 
to  go.  They  laid  waste  and  destroyed  wherever  they 
went.  They  set  fire  to  public  buildings  and  private 
dwellings  with  perfect  impunity,  and  witnessed  the 
devastations  they  created  with  evident  satisfaction. 

Tryon  marched  with  a  detachment  of  fifteen  hun- 
dred men  from  Kingsbridge  over  to  Horseneck,  or 
what  is  now  known  as  West  Greenwich.  This  place 
was  so  called,  because  it  was  a  tongue  or  neck  of  land, 
running  out  into  the  Sound ;  and  upon  it  used  to  feed 
large  quantities  of  horses,  in  the  summer  season. 
Gen.  Putnam  was  there  at  Horseneck  himself,  with 
a  small  force  of  only  a  hundred  and  fifty  men  to 
oppose  the  advancing  enemy.  He  was  stationed  on 
the  brow  of  a  steep  hill,  and  had  but  two  iron 
cannon  with  him^  but  without  drag-ropes  or  horses. 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

He  determined,  however,  to  show  to  the  enemy  that 
he  would  not  run  as  long  as  there  was  a  chance  to 
harass  them,  or  do  them  any  mischief.* 

The  field-pieces  were  loaded  and  fired  several  times 
at  them,  as  they  came  up,  performing  considerable 
execution.  Resolved  to  put  a  stop  to  such  a  proceed- 
ing at  once,  the  British  General  ordered  a  party  of 
dragoons,  supported  by  the  infantry,  to  charge  upon 
the  cause  of  the  mischief.  Seeing  what  they  were 
determined  to  do,  and  feeling  certain  that  there  was 
no  use  in  trying  to  oppose  his  little  handful  of  men 
to  the  large  body  of  the  enemy  at  hand,  Gen.  Putnam 
told  his  soldiers  to  retreat  at  the  top  of  their  speed 
into  a  swamp  near  by,  where  cavalry  could  not  enter 
to  molest  them.  He  then  waited  himself  till  the  men 
had  all  got  off  safely,  and  when  the  dragoons  had 
come  almost  within  a  sword's  length  of  him  in  their 
impetuous  chase,  he  took  a  mad  plunge  down  the 
precipice;  while  their  horses  recoiled,  and  the  riders 
looked  on  with  a  feeling  of  astonishment  that  almost 

*  General  Tryon  certainly  succeeded  in  surprising  Put- 
nam. There  are  varying  accounts  as  to  where  and  how 
Putnam  received  the  first  intimation  of  the  presence  of 
the  enemy,  but  all  agree  that  he  was  taken  suddenly  and 
unawares.  One  story  has  it  that  he  was  in  the  act  of 
shaving  when  he  saw  in  the  looking  glass  the  reflection 
of  the  British  red  coats.  Certain  it  is  that  he  did  not  stop 
for  appearances.  His  own  command  numbered  but  one 
hundred  and  fifty,  while  Tryon  had  fifteen  hundred  men. 


PUTNAM  AT  WEST  POINT  AND  DANBURY.    245 

amounted  to  horror.  They  dared  not  continue  the 
pursuit,  so  fearfully  precipitous  was  the  descent  over 
the  rocks  and  stones.  It  was  a  feat  of  reckless  daring, 
especially  for  a  man  well  along  in  years,  that  was 
quite  worthy  of  one,  who,  in  his  younger  days,  went 
down  alone  into  a  cave  after  a  hunted  wolf  at  mid- 
night.* 

The  road  led  round  the  hill ;  but  he  was  far  beyond 
their  reach  before  they  could  recover  themselves  suf- 
ficiently to  set  out  after  him  by  that  way.  They 
hastily  sent  a  volley  of  bullets  in  pursuit  of  him,  as 

*  An  anonymous  writer  in  The  Outlook,  July  14,  1900, 
gives  the  story  of  that  ride  as  he  heard  it  from  the  four 
sisters  who,  as  little  girls,  remembered  it  with  great  vivid- 
ness and  in  their  old  age  were  fond  of  narrating  it  to 
succeeding  generations: 

"On  that  day  in  February,  1778,  a  busy  mother  in  a 
typical  New  England  farm-house,  while  in  her  milk-room, 
heard  the  rapid  beat  of  horse  hoofs  coming  down  the  road, 
or,  to  use  a  colloquialism,  '  across  the  plain.'  So  fast  was 
the  horse  coming  that  the  mother  hastened  round  the  house 
to  see  where  her  little  daughters  were.  The  hatless  horse- 
man drew  his  horse  up  so  suddenly  in  front  of  the  house 
as  to  pull  him  back  on  his  haunches,  exclaiming  at  the 
moment,  '  For  God's  sake,  take  your  children  in.  The 
damned  British  are  upon  us.'  And  like  a  vision  horse  and 
rider  were  out  of  sight. 

"  These  four  sisters  all  agree  that  the  General  was  with- 
out a  hat  when  he  spoke  to  their  mother,  and  they  all 
remembered  his  long  hair  blowing  about  his  round,  kindly 
face;  they  felt  the  spirit  of  friendliness  that  led  him  to 
pause  and  warn  their  mother  of  the  danger  close  upon 
her,  and  to  them  he  seemed  like  a  personal  friend." 


246          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

he  plunged  down  the  rocky  steep;  one  of  them  went 
through  his  hat,  but  not  a  hair  of  his  head  was  in- 
jured. There  were  from  seventy-five  to  one  hundred 
rude  stone  steps  laid  on  this  declivity,  to  assist  the 
people  from  below  in  climbing  the  hill  to  the  ordinary 
services  on  Sunday,  at  the  church  on  the  brow  of 
the  same.  Putnam's  horse  took  him  in  a  zigzag  di- 
rection down  these  steps,  and  landed  him  safely  in 
the  plain.  A  man  who  stood  not  far  from  the  old 
General,  just  as  he  wheeled  his  horse  and  made  the 
reckless  plunge,  said  that  he  was  cursing  the  British 
terribly. 

He  scoured  the  road  at  the  top  of  his  speed,  and 
reached  Stamford,  a  town  about  five  miles  distant,  in 
a  very  short  time.  He  then  collected  the  few  militia 
who  were  posted  there,  and,  being  joined  also  by  some 
of  his  own  men  who  had  just  escaped,  turned  back 
to  pursue  and  harass  the  enemy.  The  latter  had 
by  this  time  succeeded  in  committing  many  acts  of 
destruction,  and  were  even  then  on  their  retreat  to 
Eye.  Putnam  hung  upon  their  rear,  and  succeeded 
in  taking  thirty-eight  prisoners,  and  a  wagon-load 
of  ammunition  and  plunder  which  they  were  carry- 
ing off,  and  which  he  afterwards  restored  to  their 
rightful  owners.  On  the  next  day,  he  sent  the  pris- 
oners all  back  to  the  British  lines,  under  an  escort, 
for  the  purpose  of  exchanging  them  with  American 


PUTNAM  AT  WEST  POINT  AND  DANBURY.    247 

prisoners.  Gov.  Tryon  was  so  much  pleased  with  his 
humanity  and  generosity,  that  he  sent  him  back  a  suit 
of  new  clothes,  including  a  hat  to  take  the  place  of  the 
one  which  had  been  perforated  with  the  bullet. 

As  the  Spring  opened,  the  army  moved  up  into 
the  Highlands  again,  concentrating  itself  there  on 
account  of  the  demonstrations  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton. 
It  was  plainly  the  intention  of  the  latter  to  possess 
himself  of  West  Point  and  the  river.  Gen.  Putnam 
held  command  at  the  Clove,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
river.  The  British  ascended  in  their  vessels,  and 
captured  Stony  Point ;  and  on  the  15th  of  July  it  was 
recaptured  again  by  that  daring  spirit  who  led  on 
a  "  forlorn  hope  "  in  the  darkness  and  storm  of  the 
night,  Anthony  Wayne,  or  "  Mad  Anthony  "•  — as  he 
was  called  by  the  army.*  But  the  Americans  had  to 
abandon  it  finally,  and  afterwards  the  British  aban- 

* "  Wayne  was  born  in  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania, 
in  1745.  He  received  a  good  education  for  the  time,  and 
became  a  land-surveyor.  During  the  troublous  times  of 
1774  and  1775,  Wayne  devoted  himself  to  drilling  military 
companies  in  his  own  county.  He  entered  the  army  as 
colonel  in  1776,  and  distinguished  himself  in  many  actions. 
His  most  notable  exploit,  perhaps,  was  the  storming  of 
Stony  Point  on  the  Hudson.  This  formidable  work  he 
carried  at  midnight  by  a  bayonet-charge,  the  soldiers'  guns 
being  empty.  He  afterward  handled  a  small  force  in  Geor- 
gia in  such  a  way  as  to  hold  in  check  a  much  larger 
body  of  British  troops.  It  was  his  careful  organization 
and'  bold  execution  of  various  enterprises  during  the  Rev- 
olution which  caused  his  selection  by  Washington  to  re» 


248          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

doned  it  still  again.  Washington  removed  his  head- 
quarters to  West  Point,  late  in  July,  and  Putnam 
took  his  post  at  Buttermilk  Falls,  some  two  miles  be- 
low. The  season  was  passed  chiefly  in  strengthening 
the  defences  of  this  famous  post,  to  which  Putnam 
was  no  small  contributor.  The  year  went  by  without 
a  single  action  of  any  greater  importance  than  that 
renowned  one  of  Wayne  against  the  fortress  of  Stony 
Point. 

trieve  the  fortunes  of  the  Indian  war  after  St.  Clair'a 
defeat." — Edward  Eggleston. 

Wayne  led  the  expedition  against  the  Indians  in  1794. 
They  called  him  The-Chief-Who-Never-Sleeps.  The  com- 
mon nickname,  "  Mad  Anthony  Wayne,"  was  given  him  on 
account  of  his  great  courage  and  valor  during  the  war 
of  the  Revolution,  but  it  must  not  be  inferred  that  he 
lacked  prudence.  It  was  this  quality  which  won  from 
the  Indians  the  name  quoted  above,  as  well  as  that  of 
The-Black-Snake,  which  they  also  called  him.  He  died  in 
1796. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

HIS  LAST  DAYS. 

EARLY  in  December,  the  American  army  went  into 
winter  quarters  at  Morristown.  There  was  no  ex- 
pedition on  foot  just  then  by  the  enemy,  which  re- 
quired them  to  be  late  in  the  field.  They  had  occu- 
pied themselves  chiefly  in  destructive  excursions  into 
the  country,  burning  and  laying  waste  wherever  they 
went.  Washington  himself  spoke  of  their  operations, 
in  a  letter  to  Lafayette,  as  amounting  to  little  more 
than  burning  defenceless  towns  within  reach  of  their 
own  shipping,  "  where  little  else  was,  or  could  be 
opposed  to  them,  than  the  cries  of  distressed  women 
and  helpless  children." 

Pretty  soon  after  going  into  winter  quarters,  Gen. 
Putnam  left  the  camp  for  an  absence  of  a  few  weeks 
to  visit  his  family  in  Connecticut.  Towards  the  last 
of  the  month  he  started  on  his  return,  taking  Hart- 
ford in  his  route,  as  usual.  He  had  travelled  on  the 
road  to  Hartford,  however,  but  a  few  miles,  when  he 
was  greatly  surprised  to  find  that  a  sensation  of 
numbness  was  creeping  over  his  right  arm  and  leg. 
Unwilling  to  think  that  it  could  proceed  from  any 
other  cause  than  the  cold,  he  made  strenuous  exer- 
tions to  shake  it  off;  but  he  soon  found  that  it  was 

249 


250          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

impossible  for  him  to  deceive  himself.  The  numb- 
ness increased,  until  it  had  got  strong  hold  upon  the 
limbs  and  one  side  of  his  person.  He  was  obliged 
to  be  removed  to  the  house  of  a  friend,  and  even  then 
he  fought  with  all  the  native  vigor  of  his  will  against 
the  unpleasant  truth  that  was  forcing  itself  upon  his 
mind.  But  it  was  to  no  purpose.  The  old  gentle- 
man found  he  had  been  visited  with  a  severe  shock 
of  paralysis,  and  it  was  useless  to  try  to  deny  it  any 
longer. 

Henceforward,  he  must  relinquish  his  active  con- 
nection with  the  war  of  the  American  Revolution. 
It  was  a  difficult  matter  for  him  to  feel  resigned  to 
inactivity,  after  having  thrown  himself  with  such 
ardor  into  the  cause  of  his  country;  but  he  used  his 
stock  of  philosophy,  and,  as  he  always  did  in  times 
of  trial  and  difficulty,  resolved  to  make  the  best  of  it. 
For  the  rest  of  his  days,  therefore,  he  must  consent, 
as  it  were,  to  lie  on  the  shelf.  He  must  hear  the 
roar  of  the  cannon,  but  take  no  part  in  the  battle. 
It  was  a  stern  fatality,  and  one  well  calculated  to 
make  the  soul  of  any  hero  feel  impatient. 

For  more  than  eleven  years  he  was  consigned  to  the 
retirement  and  quiet  of  his  farm-life  in  Pomfret, 
at  the  expiration  of  which  time  his  days  drew  to  an 
end.  He  had  not  entirely  lost  the  use  of  his  limbs, 
yet  their  strength  and  vigor  was  so  seriously  im- 


HIS  LAST  DAYS.  251 

paired  as  to  put  physical  labor  out  of  the  question. 
He  did  not  relax  any  of  his  early  interest  in  the 
details  of  farming,  but,  with  his  sons,  carried  on  his 
agricultural  labors  with  his  usual  success.  There  was 
one  time, — about  six  months  after  his  attack  of  par- 
alysis,— when  he  entertained  the  strongest  hopes  of 
being  able  to  rejoin  the  army;  and  a  letter  from  Gen. 
Washington  in  reply  to  one  of  his  own  upon  this 
subject,  is  to  be  seen  now.  But  these  hopes  all  proved 
to  be  futile  and  vain.* 

~No  man  was  a  better  companion  than  Israel  Put- 
nam, even  after  his  misfortune  from  the  assault  of 
disease.  He  was  the  life  of  every  social  circle  of 

*  These  letters  are  here  given  in  full : 

POMFRET,  29  May,  1780. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — I  cannot  forbear  informing  your  Excellency, 
by  the  return  of  Major  Humphreys  to  camp,  of  the  state 
of  my  health  from  the  first  of  my  illness  to  the  present 
time.  After  I  was  prevented  from  coming  on  to  the  army 
by  a  stroke  of  the  paralytic  kind,  which  deprived  me,  in 
a  great  measure,  of  the  use  of  my  right  leg  and  arm,  I 
retired  to  my  plantation  and  have  been  gradually  growing 
better  ever  since.  I  have  now  so  far  gained  the  use  of 
my  limbs,  especially  of  my  leg,  as  to  be  able  to  walk  with 
very  little  impediment,  and  to  ride  on  horseback  tolera- 
bly well.  In  other  respects  I  am  in  perfect  health,  and 
enjoy  the  comforts  and  pleasures  of  life  with  as  good  relish 
as  most  of  my  neighbors. 

"  Although  I  should  not  be  able  to  resume  a  command 
in  the  army,  I  propose  to  myself  the  happiness  of  making 
a  visit,  and  seeing  my  friends  there  some  time  in  the 
course  of  the  campaign.  And,  however  incapable  I  may 


252          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

( 

which  he  formed  a  part,  and  as  popular  with  all  his 
friends  as  any  man  could  reasonably  wish  to  be  con- 
sidered. He  loved  his  joke  as  well  as  anybody;  and 
lost  few  opportunities  of  having  it,  even  at  the  ex- 
pense of  his  best  friend.  He  was  nowise  indifferent 
to  the  pleasures  of  the  table,  but  could  always  tell  a 
good  piece  of  meat,  from  the  first  taste  of  it.  One 
of  his  descendants  told  the  writer  that  "  he  could 

be  of  serving  my  country,  to  my  latest  hour  my  wishes 
and  prayers  will  always  be  most  ardent  and  sincere  for 
its  happiness  and  freedom.  As  a  principal  instrument  in 
the  hand  of  Providence  for  effecting  this,  may  Heaven 
long  preserve  your  Excellency's  most  important  and  valu- 
able life. 

"  Not  being  able  to  hold  the  pen  in   my  own  hand,   I 
am  obliged  to  make  use  of  another  to  express  with  how 
much  regard  and  esteem,  I  am,  your  Excellency's 
"  Most  obedient  and  very  humble  servant, 

"  ISBAEL  PUTNAM." 

"  P.  S.  I  am  making  a  great  effort  to  use  my  hand  to 
make  the  initials  of  my  name  for  the  first  time. 

"  I.  P." 

HEAD-QUABTEBS,  5  July,  1780. 

"  DEAB  SIB, — I  am  very  happy  to  learn  from  your  letter 
of  the  29th,  handed  me  by  Major  Humphreys,  that  the  pres- 
ent state  of  your  health  is  so  flattering,  and  that  it  prom- 
ises you  the  prospect  of  being  in  a  condition  to  make  a 
visit  to  your  old  associates  some  time  this  campaign.  I 
wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  congratulate  you  on  a  complete 
recovery.  I  should  feel  a  sincere  satisfaction  in  such  an 
event,  and  I  hope  for  it  heartily,  with  the  rest  of  your 
friends  in  this  quarter. 

"  I  am,  dear  Sir,  etc., 

"  G.  WASHINGTON." 


HIS  LAST  DAYS.  253 

play  the  knife  and  fork  as  briskly  as  a  drummer 
could  his  drumsticks."  In  all  respects,  Israel  Put- 
nam was  a  hearty  man.  It  was  this  very  quality  that 
made  him  so  sincere,  so  honest,  so  devoted,  and  so 
brave.  Such  a  man  could  have  no  half-way  opinions ; 
and  what  he  honestly  thought,  that  he  never  hesitated 
to  speak  boldly  out.  To  the  very  last  day  of  his 
existence,  he  retained  the  possession  of  all  these 
marked  traits  of  character,  together  with  the  custom- 
ary brightness  and  vigor  of  his  mental  faculties.  He 
made  friends  wherever  he  went ;  and  he  understood 
the  secret — if  it  is  a  secret — of  keeping  them.  The 
same  habits  of  activity  that  had  characterized  him 
from  his  youth  up,  assisted  to  preserve  his  health  as 
long  as  it  was  preserved  to  him ;  and  only  a  few  weeks 
before  the  final  summons  came  to  call  him  away,  he 
performed  a  journey  on  horseback  to  Danvers,  his 
birthplace,  a  distance  of  a  hundred  miles.  But  he 
travelled  slowly,  resting  as  often  as  was  necessary 
along  the  road. 

Immediately  upon  the  conclusion  of  the  Treaty  of 
Peace  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain, 
by  the  terms  of  which  the  former  were  declared  to  be 
free  and  independent  States,  Washington  addressed 
a  letter  to  the  war-worn  hero  in  his  retirement,  in 
which  he  said  that  "  among  the  many  worthy  and 
meritorious  officers  with  whom  he  had  had  the  happi- 


254         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

Bess  to  be  connected  in  service  through  the  war,  and 
from  whose  cheerful  assistance  and  advice  he 
had  received  much  support  and  confidence,  the 
name  of  a  Putnam  is  not  forgotten;  nor  will  be,  but 
with  that  stroke  of  time  which  shall  obliterate  from 
my  mind  the  remembrance  of  all  those  toils  and 
fatigues  through  which  we  have  struggled,  for  the 
preservation  and  establishment  of  the  Rights,  Liber- 
ties, and  Independence  of  our  Country." 

Many  anecdotes  are  related  of  Gen.  Putnam,  some 
of  which  have  a  foundation  in  truth,  while  more, 
probably,  take  their  rise  only  in  the  imaginations  of 
those  who  gave  them  the  first  start  in  the  world. 
Among  them  all,  however,  there  is  one  which  is  quite 
good  enough,  old  as  it  may  be  to  many,  to  reproduce 
in  this  biography.  A  certain  English  officer,  who  was 
a  prisoner  on  his  parole,  or  word  of  honor,  took  mor- 
tal offence  at  some  sharp  remarks  in  which  the  Gen- 
eral had  indulged  respecting  the  British,  and  chal- 
lenged him,  thinking  this  the  easiest  way  to  take  sat- 
isfaction and  correct  the  General's  candid  opinion  at 
the  same  time.  Putnam  accepted  his  braggart  chal- 
lenge without  any  hesitation,  and  proposed  to  meet 
him  in  the  following  way: — On  the  next  morning, 
they  were  both  to  be  at  a  certain  place  by  a  specified 
hour,  and  Putnam,  who  was  the  challenged  party,  and 
of  course  had  choice  of  them,  was  to  provide  the  weap- 


HIS  LAST  DAYS.  255 

ons.  When  the  English  officer  arrived  at  the  place 
agreed  upon,  he  found  Putnam  seated  on  a  bench, 
on  which  stood  close  beside  him  a  keg  of  what  was, 
to  appearance,  powder.  A  hole  was  bored  into  the 
head,  and  a  match  had  been  thrust  into  the  hole, 
all  ready  to  be  lighted.  Putnam  removed  his  pipe 
from  his  mouth,  and  told  the  Englishman  to  sit  down 
on  the  bench  on  the  other  side  of  the  keg.  As  soon 
as  the  latter  had  complied,  Putnam  lit  the  match  by 
his  pipe,  and  began  to  smoke  again  with  as  much 
unconcern  as  if  there  was  no  possible  danger.  His 
opponent  sat  and  watched  the  burning  of  the  match 
as  long  as  he  could,  and  then  began  to  grow  nervous. 
The  moment  the  fire  came  near  to  the  few  grains  of 
powder  that  lay  scattered  about  on  the  head  of  the 
barrel,  the  officer  sprang  up  in  great  haste  and  ran  off 
at  the  top  of  his  speed ! 

"  You  are  just  as  brave  a  man  as  I  thought  you 
was !  "  exclaimed  the  triumphant  Putnam.  "  This  is 
only  a  keg  of  onions,  with  a  little  powder  sprinkled 
over  its  head,  to  try  your  pluck!  I  see  you  don't 
like  the  smell !  "  * 

He  had  the  laugh  against  the  Englishman,  who 
never  forgave  him  for  the  mock  test  to  which  he  thus 

publicly  put  his  personal  courage. 

*  The  sense  of  humor,  which  enables  a  person  who  is 
conscientiously  opposed  to  the  practice  of  dueling,  to  turn 
it  into  a  joke  and  laugh  it  out  of  court,  is  a  valuable  trait 


256          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

It  is  not  necessary,  after  giving  this  connected 
narrative  of  the  life  and  services  of  a  man  like  Israel 
Putnam,  to  set  about  the  task  of  summing  up  those 
qualities  of  his  character  which  every  reader  has  ob- 
served for  himself  in  passing  along.  It  affords  one 
sincere  pleasure,  however,  to  know  that  his  early 
habits  of  industry  and  thrift  had  placed  him  beyond 
the  reach  of  want  in  his  old  age,  which  unhappily 
the  reach  of  want  in  his  old  age,  which  unhappily 
could  not  be  said  of  many  others  of  that  band  of 
patriots  to  whose  sacrifices  we  owe  what  we  enjoy  so 

The  reader  will  recall  the  fact  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
once,  for  some  real  or  fancied  slight,  challenged  to  a  duel 
by  James  Shields.  Lincoln  was  of  exceptionally  large  phy- 
sique and  bubbled  over  with  good  nature,  while  Shields 
was  a  small  man  and  noted  for  his  explosive  temper.  Lin- 
coln, having  the  choice  of  weapons,  emphasized  the  physi- 
cal disparity  by  choosing  cavalry  swords  of  the  largest 
size.  Shields  did  not  perceive  the  humor  of  this,  and 
both  parties  repaired  to  the  "  bloody  sands  "  where,  how- 
ever, the  disagreement  was  amicably  settled.  The  details 
of  the  settlement  were  not  divulged.  Shields  afterwards 
became  a  general  in  the  United  States  army,  where  he  ren- 
dered brave  and  efficient  service,  and  when  the  war  was 
over  he  was  elected  several  times,  from  different  States, 
to  the  United  States  Senate.  Had  Lincoln  fought  the  duel 
in  earnest,  it  is  probable  that  the  country  would  have 
lost  the  services  of  at  least  one  patriot. 

By  way  of  contrast,  the  country  has  not  forgotten  the 
duel  in  which  Aaron  Burr  shot  Alexander  Hamilton  to 
death.  The  latter  was  conscientiously  opposed  to  dueling, 
but  he  dared  not  face  public  opinion  by  declining.  Put- 
nam's method  of  dealing  with  the  difficult  subject  was  far 
better.  • 


HIS  LAST  DAYS.  257 

freely  to-day.  He  had  as  pleasant  a  home  as  a  man 
could  desire ;  his  large  family,  already  grown  up  and 
settled  around  him,  found  the  same  happiness  in  his 
society  that  he  did  in  theirs;  and,  blessed  in  all 
things,  at  peace  with  the  world,  and  with  a  soul  full 
of  tranquillity,  he  came  to  his  end  at  last  like  a 
shock  of  corn  that  is  ripe  in  its  season. 

Two  days  before  his  death,  he  was  violently  at- 
tacked with  an  inflammatory  disorder,  which  obsti- 
nately refused  to  yield  to  the  ordinary  remedies  of 
medicine;  and  on  the  19th  day  of  May,  in  the  year 
1790,  he  passed  away  peacefully  and  quietly,  having 
reached  the  seventy-third  year  of  an  honorable  age. 
His  neighbors  bore  him  to  the  grave  with  every  man- 
ifestation of  sincere  sorrow  for  his  loss ;  and  the  news 
of  his  death  was  received  with  feelings  of  unmingled 
grief  all  over  the  country.  Thus  did  he  live  for  seven 
full  years  to  witness  and  participate  in  the  happi- 
ness of  the  country  whose  independence  he  had  as- 
sisted to  achieve,  and  it  gave  him  lasting  joy  to  know 
that  the  part  he  had  taken  in  the  struggle  was  not  a 
hesitating  or  an  inconsiderable  one.  Dr.  Whitney, 
his  old  pastor,  preached  a  discourse  appropriate  to 
his  death,  from  which  the  following  paragraph  is  an 
interesting  extract : 

"  He  was  eminently  a  person  of  public  spirit,  an 
unshaken  friend  of  liberty,  and  was  proof  against 


258          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

attempts  to  induce  him  to  betray  and  desert  his  coun- 
try. The  baits  to  do  so  were  rejected  with  the  utmost 
abhorrence.  He  was  of  a  kind,  benevolent  disposi- 
tion ;  pitiful  to  the  distressed,  charitable  to  the  needy, 
and  ready  to  assist  all  who  wanted  his  help.  In  his 
family  he  was  the  tender,  affectionate  husband,  the 
provident  father,  an  example  of  industry  and  close 
application  to  business.  He  was  a  constant  attendant 
upon  the  public  worship  of  God,  from  his  youth  up. 
He  brought  his  family  with  him,  when  he  came  to 
worship  the  Lord.  He  was  not  ashamed  of  family 
religion.  His  house  was  a  house  of  prayer.  For 
many  years,  he  was  a  professor  of  religion.  In  the 
last  years  of  his  life,  he  often  expressed  a  great  re- 
gard for  God,  and  the  things  of  God.  There  is  one, 
at  least,  to  whom  he  freely  disclosed  the  workings  of 
his  mind;  his  conviction  of  sin;  his  grief  for  it; 
his  dependence  on  God,  through  the  Redeemer,  for 
pardon;  and  his  hope  of  a  happy  future  existence, 
whenever  his  strength  and  heart  should  fail  him. 
This  one  makes  mention  of  these  things,  for  the  satis- 
faction and  comfort  of  his  children  and  friends ;  and 
can  add,  that,  being  with  the  General  a  little  before 
he  died,  he  asked  him  whether  his  hope  of  future 
happiness,  as  formerly  expressed,  now  attended  him. 
His  answer  was  in  the  affirmative ;  with  a  declaration. 


HIS  LAST  DAYS.  259 

of  his  resignation  to  the  will  of  God,  and  his  willing- 
ness even  then  to  die." 

He  left  a  large  family,  whose  descendants  live  to 
honor  the  name  of  their  ancestor  in  all  parts  of  our 
common  country.  The  various  relics  which  bring  up 
his  personal  connection  with  the  French  and  Indian, 
and  the  Revolutionary  War,  are  preserved  with 
sacred  solicitude.  Among  these  are  the  pistols  of 
Major  Pitcairn,  with  one  of  which  the  latter  opened 
the  Revolution  on  Lexington  Green. 

The  dust  of  the  old  Hero  lies  in  the  little  burying- 
ground  of  the  village  of  Brooklyn, — which  village 
was  once  a  part  of  Pomfret, — and  there  mingles 
peacefully  with  the  soil.  The  tomb, — a  brick 
structure,  upon  which  rests  a  weather-browned  slab, 
— is  fast  going  to  decay,  and  sacrilegious  hands  have 
chipped  off  pieces  of  the  marble  slab  to  carry  away 
as  trifling  memorials.  The  State  of  Connecticut, 
however,  has  pledged  herself  to  aid  generously  in  the 
erection  of  a  suitable  monument,  to  be  placed  upon 
the  open  green  of  the  village,  where  all  who  pass 
may  be  reminded  of  the  man  whose  labors  and  sacri- 
fices brought  them  so  priceless  a  legacy.*  Upon  the 

*  The  State  has  handsomely  redeemed  this  pledge,  and 
to-day  a  fine  equestrian  statue,  representing  the  general 
as  urging  his  men  forward,  apparently  in  battle,  stands 
on  the  Green  in  the  town  of  Brooklyn.  Another  statue, 
representing  Putnam  in  the  military  costume  of  Revolu* 


260          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

present  fast-fading  slab  that  crowns  the  dilapidated 
vault,*  is  to  be  traced  the  following  feeling  and 
highly  appropriate  inscription,  from  the  pen  of  his 
friend  and  companion  in  the  army,  Dr.  Dwight,  Pres- 
ident of  Yale  College : 

SACRED   BE   THIS    MOIOJMEST, 

to  the  memory 

of 

ISRAEL  PTTTXAM,  ESQUIRE, 
Senior  Major-General  in  the  armies 

of 
the  United  States  of  America, 

who 

was  born  at  Salem, 

in  the  Province  of  Massachusetts, 

on  the  7th  day  of  January, 

A.  D.  1718, 

and  died 

on  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  May, 
A.  D.  1790. 


PASSENGER, 

if  thou  art  a  soldier, 
drop  a  tear  over  the  dust  of  a  Hero, 

who 

ever  attentive 
to  the  lives  and  happiness  of  his  men, 


tionary  times,  adorns  the  beautiful  Bushnell  Park,  of  the 
city  of  Hartford.  It  was  erected  by  the  munificence  of  a 
private  citizen. 

*  A  century  of  New  England  storms  and  sunshine  wore 
upon  that  plain  slab  and  threatened  to  destroy  the  inter- 
esting inscription.  Accordingly  the  slab  was  reverently 
removed  to  Hartford,  where  it  is  now  kept  in  the  corridor 
of  the  Capitol,  accessible  to  all  comers. 


HIS  LAST  DAYS.  26] 

dared  to  lead 
where  any  dared  to  follow; 

if  a  Patriot, 
remember  the  distinguished  and  gallant  services 

rendered  thy  country 

by  the  Patriot  who  sleeps  beneath  this  marble; 

if  thou  art  honest,  generous  and  worthy, 

render  a  cheerful  tribute  of  respect 

to  a  man, 

whose  generosity  was  singular, 
whose  honesty  was  proverbial; 

who 

raised  himself  to  universal   esteem, 

and  offices  of  eminent  distinction, 

by  personal  worth 

and  a 
useful  life. 

The  brave  old  man,  who  never  knew  the  meaning 
of  fear,  sleeps  quietly  in  this  humble  grave.  A  de- 
vious path  has  been  worn  among  the  hillocks  of  the 
little  yard,  by  the  feet  of  those  who  have  come,  year 
after  year,  to  look  upon  his  last  resting  place.  On  the 
still  summer  afternoons,  the  crickets  chirp  mourn- 
fully in  the  long  wild  grass,  and  the  southerly  breeze 
wails  in  the  belt  of  pines  that  neighbor  upon  the 
spot.  The  associations  are  all  of  a  thoughtful  sad- 
ness. But  it  is  good  for  one  to  visit  the  graves  of 
the  heroes  who  have  departed,  where  he  may  kindle 
anew  that  sentiment  of  patriotism,  without  which  he 
can  become  neither  an  estimable  citizen  nor  a  noble 
man. 

THE 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

CONCLUSION. 

IT  may  be  of  some  interest  to  the  reader  to  give, 
in  concluding  this  work,  a  summary  of  what  has  been 
learned  of  the  subject  of  the  biography,  and  particu- 
larly an  estimate  of  his  character.  His  physical 
aspect  is  described  by  L.  Grosvenor,  one  of  his  de- 
scendants, in  the  following  words: — * 

"  Putnam,  in  personal  appearance,  was  of  medium 
height,  of  a  strong,  athletic  figure,  and  in  the  time  of 
the  revolutionary  war,  rather  fleshy,  weighing  200 
Ibs.  His  hair  was  dark,  his  eyes  light  blue,  his  com- 
plexion a  florid  Saxon,  and  his  broad,  good-humored 
face,  marked  with  deep  scars,  received  in  his  encoun- 
ters with  the  French  and  Indians.  A  portrait  of 
him,  taken  in  his  younger  days,  when  he  was  a 
provincial  major,  gives  a  rather  slim  but  muscular 
figure,  drest  in  scarlet  coat  and  breeches  and  a 
light  blue  vest,  with  buff  gloves  and  black  cravat. 
He  is  described  by  those  now  living,  who  frequently 
saw  him  in  his  old  age,  as  being  very  large  around 

262 


CONCLUSION.  263 

the  chest,  showing — what  we  should  expect  from  his 
habits — a  great  amount  of  sanguine  vital  tempera- 
ment. Even  after  his  final  return  from  the  wars, 
when  one  side  of  him  was  so  paralyzed  that  his  right 
arm  clung  close  and  useless  to  his  side,  and  he  had 
to  be  assisted  to  mount  his  horse,  he  rode  almost  every 
day  on  horseback,  l  sitting  up  as  straight  as  a  boy.' ' 
In  the  sterling  qualities  of  intellect,  Putnam  stood 
high ;  but  his  scholastic  achievements  were  slight,  as 
appears  in  his  letters.  Most  of  these  were  dictated, 
and  therefore  have  not  the  peculiar  and  unique  in- 
terest which  attaches  to  the  literal  products  of  his  own 
pen.  The  wonder  is  that  one  who  had  so  little  school- 
ing as  he,  was  able  to  express  his  meaning  sufficiently 
clearly  in  writing,  even  with  the  aid  of  an  aman- 
uensis. The  fact  is,  however,  that  his  letters  are 
remarkably  free  from  ambiguity,  when  all  the  cir- 
cumstances are  duly  considered.  But  when,  in  any 
exigency,  he  took  his  pen  in  his  own  hand,  the  results 
were  astonishing.  The  following  letter,  which  may 
be  found  in  the  excellent  biography  by  William  Far- 
rand  Livingston,  will  give  an  excellent  idea  of  our 
hero's  deficiency  in  "  book  learning."  It  is  addressed 
to  General  Washington : 

"  PICKSKILI,,  ye  24  Sept.,  1778. 
"  Dear  Ginrol, — Larst  night  I  received  a    Leator 


264         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

from  Collo  Spencor  informing  me  that  the  Enimy 
had  landed  at  the  English  Xaborwhood  and  ware  on 
thar  March  to  hackensack.  I  immedat  called  the 
ginrol  ofesors  togather  to  consult  what  was  beast  to 
be  don  it  was  concluded  to  Exammin  the  mens  gons 
and  Cartridges  &  &  and  to  have  them  ready  for  a 
March  at  the  shortest  notis  when  it  should  be  thought 
beast  or  on  receaving  your  Orders.  I  waited  sorn 
time  for  further  Intelleganc  but  hearing  non  I  rod 
down  to  Kings  fary  and  on  my  way  met  4  men  with 
thar  horses  loded  with  bagig  going  back  into  the 
contry  which  said  thay  cam  from  within  2  milds 
of  tarytown  who  said  the  Enimy  had  com  out 
of  !N"ew  York  in  3  larg  Colloms  won  by  the  way  of 
Maranack  and  won  by  taritown  and  won  had  gon  into 
the  jarsys  Just  as  I  had  got  to  the  fary  I  meat  won 
Capt.  Jonston  with  a  leator  from  Collo  Hay  which 
informed  me  that  the  Enemy  had  got  as  fur  as 
Sovalingboro  church  and  was  incamped  thare  and  it 
was  said  thay  war  waiteng  for  a  wind  to  bring  up  the 
ships:  the  Enimy  are  colecting  all  the  catel  sheap 
and  hogs  thay  can  in  this  setuation  shuld  be  glad  of 
your  Excelanceys  orders  what  to  do 
"  I  am  Sir  with  the  gratest  Estem 

"  your  humbel  Sarveant 

"  ISEAEL  PUTXAM." 


CONCLUSION.  265 

Of  some  of  General  Putnam's  other  qualities, 
Oliver  W.  B.  Peabody  wrote  as  follows: — 

"  His  qualities  as  a  soldier  are  already  apparent 
[to  the  reader.]  Under  all  circumstances,  however 
critical,  he  was  perfectly  fearless  and  self-possessed, 
and  full  of  the  most  active  energy  and  resource  at  the 
time  when  they  were  most  urgently  required.  ^sTo 
man  could  surpass  him  in  the  fiery  charge,  of  which 
the  success  depends  so  much  upon  the  leader ;  in  this 
respect  he  reminds  the  reader  of  Murat,  the  gallant 
marshal  of  Napoleon ;  nor  would  the  general  feeling 
deny  him  the  proud  title,  by  which  another  of  those 
marshals  was  distinguished,  that  of  the  bravest  of 
the  brave.  At  the  same  time,  as  has  been  already 
intimated,  he  was  somewhat  less  successful  in  the. 
more  extended  operations,  which  required  the  com- 
bined action  of  large  and  separate  masses  of  men. 
Yet,  when  it  is  remembered  that,  wholly  without  mil- 
itary education  and  with  scarcely  any  other,  and 
simply  by  the  force  of  his  own  energy  and  talent,  he 
rose  through  all  the  gradations  of  the  service  to  the 
station  of  first  major-general  in  the  army,  till  he 
stood  second  in  rank  to  Washington  alone,  no  better 
evidence  could  be  given  or  required  of  his  capacity 
and  conduct  as  a  soldier.  T^or  should  it  be  forgotten 
that  his  humanity  was  always  as  conspicuous  as  his 
bravery,  his  treatment  of  the  sick  and  wounded  was 


266         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

such  as  to  attract  the  warm  attachment  of  his  own 
soldiers,  and  to  extort  the  gratitude  of  the  enemy. 
He  is  certainly  entitled  to  the  praise  of  disinterested, 
ardent,  and  successful  efforts  in  the  cause  of  his  coun- 
try ;  and  he  will  be  long  remembered  among  those  who 
served  her  faithfully  and  well,  at  a  season  when  she 
wanted  either  the  ability  or  the  inclination  to  reward 
their  toils  and  sacrifices. 

"  But  the  military  reputation  of  General  Putnam, 
high  as  it  was,  concealed  no  dark  traits  of  personal 
character  beneath  its  shadow.  In  all  the  domestic 
relations,  the  surest  tests  of  habitual  virtue,  he  was 
most  exemplary;  and  his  excellence  in  this  respect 
deserves  the  more  notice,  as  the  stern  discipline  and 
wild  adventure,  in  which  so  much  of  his  life  was 
spent,  were  more  favorable  to  the  growth  of  severer 
qualities.  His  disposition  was  frank,  generous,  and 
kind;  in  his  intercourse  with  others,  he  was  open, 
just,  sincere,  and  unsuspecting;  liberal  in  his  hospi- 
tality, and  of  ready  benevolence  whenever  there  was 
any  occasion  for  his  charity.  Those  who  knew  him 
best  were  the  most  forward  to  express  their  admira- 
tion of  his  excellence.  The  late  President  D wight, 
who  was  his  friend,  but  very  unlikely  to  sacrifice  the 
claims  of  truth  to  those  of  personal  regard,  has  in  his 
writings  more  than  once  expressed  the  sentiment, 
which  he  has  embodied  in  the  inscription  on  Gen- 


CONCLUSION.  267 

eral  Putnam's  monument ;  that  he  was  a  '  man,  whose 
generosity  was  singular,  whose  honesty  was  proverb- 
ial; who  raised  himself  to  universal  esteem,  and 
offices  of  eminent  distinction,  by  personal  worth  and 
a  useful  life.'  Such  is  the  language  of  others  who 
have  borne  witness  to  his  private  virtues;  and  what 
more  needs  to  be  added,  than  that  his  moral  excellence 
flowed  from  a  religious  fountain,  and  that  the  char- 
acter of  a  man  of  worth  was  adorned  and  dignified  in 
him  by  the  higher  qualities  of  a  Christian  ?  " 

Holliston,  as  quoted  by  Grosvenor,  wrote  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  The  character  of  Putnam  was  the  result  of  our 
peculiar  structure  of  society,  and  the  growth  of  our 
soil.  A  hero  from  his  cradle,  he  needed  not  the  tac- 
tics of  the  schools  to  give  him  discipline,  nor  the 
maxims  of  philosophy  to  make  him  brave.  Like  the 
ghost  of  Fingal,  rising  in  the  midst  of  its  hill,  and 
unveiling  its  features  to  the  moon,  the  fame  of  our 
chieftain  is  just  beginning  to  unfold  itself  in  its 
colossal  proportions.  Already  the  eyes  of  the  world 
are  turned  towards  him.  A  monument  will  soon 
stand  above  his  grave  that  will  be  worthy  of  the  spot. 
Let  it  be  made  of  material  solid  as  his  integrity,  and 
planted  deep  and  immovable  as  the  love  that  he  bore 
to  his  country  was  seated  in  his  heart ;  yet  let  it  be 
costly  and  rare  as  the  lavish  gifts  that  the  creating 


268          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

hand  poured  so  plentifully  upon  him.  Let  it  be  sim- 
ple and  bold  like  his  character,  above  all  let  it  trans- 
mit the  truth  that  has  so  long  been  told  the  pilgrims 
who  visit  the  tomb,  that  l  Putnam  dared  to  lead, 
where  any  dared  to  follow.' ' 

At  Putnam's  funeral  services  Dr.  Waldo,  speaking 
at  the  grave,  said : 

"  Born  a  hero,  whom  nature  taught  and  cherished 
in  the  lap  of  innumerable  trials  and  dangers,  he  was 
terrible  in  battle.  But  from  the  amiableness  of  his 
heart,  when  carnage  ceased,  his  humanity  spread  over 
the  field  like  the  refreshing  breezes  of  a  summer  even- 
ing. The  prisoner,  the  wounded,  the  sick,  the  for- 
lorn, experienced  the  delicate  sympathy  of  this  sol- 
diers' pillar.  [Tarbox,  in  quoting  this  passage,  uses 
the  word  "  pillow."]  The  poor  and  needy,  of  every 
description,  received  the  charitable  bounties  of  this 
Christian  soldier." 

We  thus  see  that  the  most  noticeable  trait  of  Put- 
nam was  his  courage.  This,  joined  with  his  fiery 
impetuosity,  made  him  a  man  of  mark.  In  the  excite- 
ment of  battle,  he  seemed  to  be  possessed  of  forty 
devils,  and  his  fury  knew  no  bounds.  It  followed 
that  when  his  own  men  failed  him  his  indignation, 
being  all  directed  against  them,  was  simply  terrific. 
It  is  not  strange  that  the  men  feared  the  tongue  of 
their  leader,  whom  they  also  loved  devotedly,  quite  as 


CONCLUSION.  269 

much  as  they  feared  the  bullets  of  the  foe.  Coward- 
ice he  could  neither  understand  nor  tolerate,  and 
when  he  lost  his  self-control  he  poured  forth  a  torrent 
of  invective  which  no  soldier  would  care  to  hear  a 
second  time. 

On  the  other  hand,  as  soon  as  the  excitement  of  the 
tattle  was  over,  he  was  a  changed  man:  he  was  as 
sympathetic  as  a  brother,  as  gentle  as  a  woman. 
After  the  battle,  none  were  enemies  to  him,  he  min- 
istered to  friend  and  foe  alike,  and  in  doing  so  poured 
forth  all  the  devotion  of  a  rare  soul.  In  time  of 
peace,  he  was  a  general  favorite  in  the  community, 
by  reason  of  his  cheeriness  and  his  never  failing  good 
nature.  In  his  person  the  extremes  of  gentleness  and 
of  wrath  met. 

Impulsive  as  Putnam  was,  he  had  unusual  persist- 
ence. He  was  always  cheerful,  and,  no  matter  what 
obstacles  confronted  him,  he  never  became  discour- 
aged. When  opposed  by  overwhelming  numbers  of 
the  enemy,  when  apparently  caught  in  a  trap,  when 
captured  and  subjected  to  slow  torture,  he  always 
maintained  his  cheery  optimism.  Though  he  liked 
nothing  in  the  world  so  much  as  a  sharp  battle,  he 
was  not  deficient  in  caution  and  watchfulness.  When 
he  was  placed  in  charge  of  a  station,  all  the  ingenuity 
of  the  Connecticut  Yankee  was  brought  into  requisi- 
tion to  contrive  means  of  defence.  He  thus  had  a 


270         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM. 

balance  of  qualities  such  as  is  rarely  found  in  im- 
petuous men. 

Putnam  earned  his  first  reputation  in  the  Indian 
war  where  he  served  as  a  partisan  leader,  or  guerilla 
chief.  Though  he  did  excellent  service  in  the  revo- 
lutionary war  as  major-general,  yet  his  greatest  abili- 
ties lay  in  the  line  of  guerilla  warfare.  With  few 
well  trained  and  dauntless  men  under  his  control, 
striking  sudden  and  powerful  blows  where  least  ex- 
pected, he  could  do  immense  damage  to  a  large  army 
and  that  with  comparative  immunity  to  his  own 
forces.  "  But,"  says  one  writer,  "  a  large  army  puz- 
zled him ;  it  was  not  flexible  enough  in  his  hand,  and 
he  could  not  wield  it  with  that  ease  and  rapidity  he 
wished."  Still  he  was  too  valuable  a  man  to  be  left 
in  control  of  only  a  few  score  or  a  few  hundred  men ; 
such  a  compact  band  would  have  been  a  means  of  in- 
creasing his  personal  honor,  but  it  would  have  been 
of  less  value  to  the  cause  at  a  time  when  there  were 
few  men  with  military  education  from  which  it  was 
possible  to  select  generals.  In  spite  of  the  lack  of 
early  military  education,  he  made  a  record  that  com- 
pares favorably  with  that  of  any  of  his  fellows, 
Washington  and  Lafayette  alone  being  excepted. 

The  American  reader  cannot  cease  to  regret  that 
the  untimely  stroke  of  paralysis  laid  Putnam  aside  so 
that  he  was  not  able  to  bear  his  part  in  the  war  until 


CONCLUSION.  2Y1 

its  triumphant  conclusion.  To  his  fiery  nature  this 
must  have  been  a  sore  trial  and  a  bitter  disappoint- 
ment. But  it  is  pleasant  to  reflect  that  the  closing 
years  of  this  stormy  life  were  spent  in  peace,  comfort, 
and  contentment.  Men  believed  in  him  and  loved 
him.  Though  his  body  was  almost  helpless,  his  mind 
remained  clear  and  vigorous.  He  lived  to  reap  the 
reward  of  being  honored  by  all  his  countrymen,  and 
most  of  all  by  his  neighbors  who  knew  him  best.  The 
esteem  in  which  he  was,  and  still  is,  held  by  his 
countrymen  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  nearly  thirty 
counties,  towns,  and  villages  in  widely  separated 
parts  of  this  country  bear  his  name.  He  was  one  of 
that  cluster  of  patriots,  builders  of  the  nation,  that 
make  glorious  that  period  of  history  which  witnessed 
the  birth  and  early  growth  of  the  United  States  of 
America. 


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Knickerbocker's   History   of    New 

York.     Washington  Irving. 
Kith  and  Kin.     Jessie  FothergilL 
Knight  Errant.     By  Edna   Lyall. 
Koran.     Sale's  Translation. 
Lady  of  the  Lake.     Sir  W.  Scott, 
Lady  with  the  Rubies.  E.  Marlitt, 
Lalla    Rookh.     Thomas   Moore. 
Last  Days  of  Pompeii.     By   Bat 
wer-Lytton. 


BUBT'S  HOME  MBRARY— Continued.     Price  ftl.OO  per  Copy, 


Lamplighter.     Maria  S.  Cummins. 
Last  of  the  Barons.     Bulwer-Lyt- 

ton. 
Last  of  the  Mohicans.     By  James 

Fenimore  Cooper. 
Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel.     By  Sir 

Walter  Scott. 

Lena  Rivers.     Mary  3.  Holmes. 
Life  of  Christ.     By  F.  W.  Farrar. 
'  Light  of  Asia.     Edwin  Arnold. 
Light  that  Failed,  The.     Rudyard 

Kipling. 

Little  Dorrit.     Charles  Dickens. 
Longfellow's  Poems.     (Early.) 
Lorn  a  Doone.     R.   D.  Blackmore. 
Louise  de  la   Valliere.    Alexandra 

Dumas. 
Love   Me   Little,   Love   Me   Long. 

By  Charles  Reade. 
Lover  or  Friend.     Rosa  N.  Carey. 
Lowell's  Poems.     (Early.) 
Lncile.     By   Owen  Meredith. 
Macaulay's  Poems. 
Maid  of  Sker.     By  R.   D.   Black- 
more. 
Makers  of  Florence.     By  Mrs.  011- 

phant. 
Makers  of  Venice.     By  Mrs.   Oli- 

Man  and  Wife.     Wilkie  Collins. 
Man  in  Black.     Stanley  Weyman. 
Man  in  the  Iron  Mask.     By  Alex- 

andre  Dumas. 
Marguerite  de   Valols.     By   Alex- 

andre  Dumas. 

Marmion.     Sir  Walter  Scott. 
Marquis  of  Lossie.    George  Mac- 

donald. 
Martin    Chuzzlewit.      By    Charlea 

Dickens. 

Mary  Anerley.     R.  D.  Blackmore. 
Mary  St.  John.     Rosa  N.  Carey. 
Master  of  Ballantrae.     By   R.  L. 

Stevenson. 
Masterman    Ready.      By    Captain 

Marryat. 

Meadow  Brook.     Mary  J.  Holmes. 
Meditations    of    Marcus    Aurelius. 

Translated  by  George  Long. 
Memoirs  of  a  Physician.     Alexan- 

dre  Dumas. 

Merle's  Crusade.     Rosa  N.  Carey. 
Micah   Clarke.     A.   Conan  Doyle. 
Michael  Strogoff.     Jules   Verne. 
Midcllemarch.     By  George  Eliot. 
Midshipman    Easy.      By    Captain 

Marryat. 

Mill  on  the  Floss.     George  Eliot. 
Milton's  Poems. 

Mine  Own  People.     R.   Kipling. 
Molly  Bawn.     "The  Duchess." 
Monastery.      Sir    Walter    Scott. 
Moonstone.     By  Wilkie  Collins. 
Moore's   Poems.     Thomas   Moore. 
Mosses   from    an    Old    Manse.     By 

Nathaniel  Hawthorne. 
Mysterious  Island.     Jules  Verne. 
Natural     Law     in     the     Spiritual 

World.     Henry   Drummond. 
Nellie's  Memories.   Rosa  N.  Carey. 
Newcomes.  By  W.  M.  Thackeray. 
Nicholas  Nickleby.  Chas.  Dickens. 
Ninety-Three.     By   Victor   Hugo. 
Not   Like  Other  Girls.     By   Uosa 

N.  Carey. 


No  Name.     By  Wilkie  Collins. 
Odyssey.     Pope's  Translation. 
Old    Curiosity    Shop.     By    Charlea 

Dickens. 
Old    Mam'selle's    Secret.     By    E. 

Old  Mortali'ty-     Sir  Walter  Scott. 
Old  Myddleton's  Money.     By  Mary 

Cecil   Hay. 

Oliver   Twist.     Charles   Dickens. 
Only  a   Word.     By  George  Ebers. 
Only  the  Governess.     By  Rosa  N. 

Carey. 

On  the  Heights.     B.  Auerbacn. 
Origin  of  Species.     Chas.  Darwin. 
Other  Worlds  than  Ours.     Richard 

Proctor. 

Our  Bessie.     By  Rosa  N.  Carey. 
Our   Mutual   Friend.     By   Charles 

Dickens. 

Pair  of  Blue  Eyes.     Thos.  Hardy. 
Past  and  Present.     Thos.  Carlyle. 
Pathfinder.     James  F.    Cooper.       \\ 
Pendennis.     W.  M.  Thackeray. 
Pei-e  Goriot.     H.  de  Balzac. 
Peveril  of  the  Peak.     By  Sir  Wal- 
ter Scott. 
Phantom    Rickshaw,    The.      Rnd« 

yard  Kipling. 
Phra,  The  Phoenician.     By  Edwin 

L.  Arnold. 

Picciola.     By  X.   B.   Saintine. 
Pickwick  Papers.     Chas.  Dickens. 
Pilgrim's  Progress.    John  Bunyan. 
Pillar    of    Fire.     By    Rev.    J.    H. 

Ingraham. 

Pilot,  The.     By  James  P.  Cooper. 
Pioneers.     By  James  F.  Cooper. 
Pirate.     By  Sir  Walter  Scott. 
Plain   Tales   from   the   Hills.     By 

Rudyard  Kipling. 
Poe's  Poems.     By  Edgar  A.  Poe. 
Pope's  Poems.     Alexander  Pope.    " 
Prairie.     By  James  F.  Cooper. 
Pride  and  Prejudice.  Jane  Austen. 
Prince    of    the    House    of    David. 

By   Rev.   J.   H.    Ingraham. 
Princess  of  the  Moor.     E.  Marlltt, 
Princess  of  Thule.      Win.    Black, 
Procter's     Poems.      By     Adelaide 

Procter. 

Professor.     Charlotte   Bronte. 
Prue  aud  I.     By  Geo.  Wm.  Curtis. 
Queen     Horteuse.      Louisa     Muni 

bach. 

Queenie's  Whim.     Rosa  N.  Carey. 
Queen's   Necklace.     Alex.    Duma* 
Quentin  Durward.     Walter  Scott. 
Redgauntlet.     Sir  Walter  Scott. 
Red  Rover.     By  James  F.  CoopcR. 
Reign  of  Law.     Duke  of   Argyla, 
Reveries    of    a    Bachelor.     By    II 

Marvel. 

Reynard  the  For.     Joseph  Jacob* 
Rhbda  Fleming.     By  George  Mer^ 

edith. 

Rienzi.     By  Bulwer-Lytton. 
Robert  Orel's  Atonement.  By  ROM 

N.   Carey. 

Robinson  Crusoe.     Daniel  Defoe. 
Rob  Roy.     By  Sir  Walter  Scott. 
Romance  of  Two  Worlds.       Marie 

Corelli. 

Romola.     By  George  Eliot. 
Bory  O'More.    By  Samuel  Lover. 


fclTRTS  HOME  LIBRARY -Continued.     Price  #1.00  per  Copy. 


Itossetti's  Poems.    Gabriel  Dante 

Rossettl. 

Royal  Edinburgh.     Mrs.  Oliphant. 
Snint  Michael.     By  B.   Werner. 
Schonberg-Cotta  Family.     By  Mrs. 

Andrew  Charles. 
Sartor  Resartus.     Thos.  Carlyle. 
Scarlet    Letter,    The.      Nathaniel 

Hawthorne. 

Schopenhauer's      Essays.      Trans- 
lated by  T.  B.  Saunders. 
Scottish  Chiefs.     By  Jane  Porter. 
Scott's  Poems.     Walter  Scott. 
Search   for   Basil   Lyndhurst.    By 

Rosa  N.  Carey. 
Second  Wife.     By  E.  Marlitt. 
Seekers  after  God.     P.  W.  Farrar. 
Self-Help.     By  Samuel  Smiles. 
Sense    and    Sensibility.     By    Jane 

Austen. 

Sesame  and  Lilies.     John  Ruskin. 
Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture.     By 

John  Ruskin. 

Shadow  of  a  Crime.     Hall  Caine. 
Shelley's  Poems. 
Shirley.     By  Charlotte  Bronte". 
Sign   of   the   Four,    The.     By    A. 

Conan  Doyle. 

Silas  Marner.     By  George  Eliot. 
Silence    of    Dean    Maitland.     By 

Maxwell  Grey. 
Sin  of  Joost   Avelingh.     Maarten 

Maarteus. 

Sir  Gibbie.     George  Macdonald. 
Sketch  Book.     Washington  Ii-ving. 
Social    Departure,    A.     By    Sarah 

Jeannette  Duncan. 
Soldiers  Three.     Rudyard  Kipling. 
Son  of  Hagar.     By  Hall  Caine. 
Springhaven.     R.  D.  Blackmore. 
Spy,  The.     By  James  F.  Cooper. 
Story   of   an    African   Farm.     By 

Olive  Schreiner. 
Story  of  John  G.  Paton.     By  Rev. 

Jas.   Paton. 

Strathmore.     By  "Ouida." 
St.  Ronan's  Well.     Walter  Scott. 
Study  in  Scarlet,  A.     By  A.  Conan 

Doyle. 

Surgeon's  Daughter.     By  Sir  Wal- 
ter Scott. 

Swinburne's  Poems. 
Swiss  Family  Robinson.     By  Jean 

Rudolph  Wyss. 

Taking  the  Bastile.    Alex.  Dumas, 
Tale  of  Two  Cities.      By  Charles 

Dickens. 
Tales  from  Shakespeare.     Charles 

and  Mary.  Lamb. 

Tales  of  a  Traveller.     By  Wash- 
ington Irvine. 

Talisman.     Sir  Walter  Scott. 
Tangle  wood  Tales.     By  Nathaniel 

Hawthorne. 
Tempest  and  Sunshine.     By  Mary 

J.  Holmes. 
Ten  Nights  in  a  Bar  Room.     By 

T.  S.  Arthur. 
Tennyson's  Po»ms. 
Ten    Years   Later.     Alex.    Dumas. 
Terrible  Temptation.     By  Charles 

Reade. 
Thaddeus    of    Warsaw.     By   Jane 

Porter. 
Xhelma.    By  Marie  Corelli. 


Thirty  Years'  War.    By  Frederick 

Schiller. 
Thousand  Miles  Up  the  Nile.    By 

Amelia  B.  Edwards. 
Three  Guardsmen.     Alex.   Dumas. 
Three  Men  In  a  Boat.     By  J.  K. 

Jerome. 

Thrift.     By  Samuel  Smiles. 
Toilers  of  the  Sea.     Victor  Hugo. 
Tom  Brown  at  Oxford.     By  Thos. 

Hughes. 
Tom    Brown's    School    Days.     By 

Thomas  Hughes. 
Tom  Burke  of  "Ours."     By  Chas. 

Lever. 
Tour    of    the    World    In    Eighty' 

Days.     By  Jules  Verne. 
Treasure    Island.      By    R.    Louis 

Stevenson. 
Twenty  Thousand  Leagues  Under 

the  Sea.     By  Jules  Verne. 
Twenty    Years    After.     By    Alex- 

andre  Dumas. 
Twice  Told  Tales.     By  Nathaniel 

Hawthorne. 

Two  Admirals.     J.   F.   Cooper. 
Two  Years  Before  the  Mast.     By 

R.  H.  Dana,  Jr. 
Uarda.     By  George  Ebers. 
Uncle  Max.     By  Rosa  N.  Carey. 
Uncle   Tom's   Cabin.     By   Harriet 

Beecber  Stowe. 
Under  Two  Flags.     "Ouida." 
Undine.     De  La  Motte  Fouqne. 
Unity    of    Nature.     By    Duke    of 

Argyle. 

Vanity  Fair.     W.  M.  Thackeray. 
Vendetta.     By  Marie  Corelli. 
Vicar    of    Wakeneld.     By    Oliver 

Goldsmith. 
Vicomte  de   Bragelonne.     Alexan- 

dre  Dumas. 

Vlllette.     By  Charlotte  Bronte. 
Virginians.     W.    M.   Thackeray. 
Water  Babies.     Charles  Kingsloy. 
Water   Witch.     Jamos  F.   Cooper. 
Waverley.     By  Sir  Walter  Scott. 
Wee  Wine.     By  Rosa  N.   Carey. 
Westward  Ho!     Charles  Kingsley. 
We  Two.     By  Edna  Lyall. 
What's  Mine's  Mine.     By  Geotge 

Macdonald. 
When  a  Man's  Single.     By  J.  M. 

Barrie. 

White    Company.      By    A.  Doyle. 
Whittier's  Poems. 
Wide,    Wide    World.      By    Susao 

Warner. 

Window  in  Thrums.  J.  M.  Barrla* 
Wing  and  Wing.     J.  F.  Cooper. 
Woman  in  White.     Wilkie  Colllna* 
Won  by  Waiting.     Edna  Lyall. 
Wonder   Book,    A.     For   Boys  and 

Girls.     By   N.    Hawthorne. 
Woodstock.     By  Sir  Walter  Scott. 
Wooed  and  Married.     By  Rosa  N. 

Carey. 

Wooing  O't.     By  Mrs.  Alexander. 
Wordsworth's    Poems. 
World  Went  Very  Well  then.    Bj 

Walter  Besaut. 

Wormwood.     By    Marie   Corelli. 
Wreck  of  the  Grosvenor.     By  W 

Clark  Russell. 
£enobla.    By  William  Were, 


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